Dear Senators Blunt and Reed and Representatives Long and Courtney:
On behalf of organizations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and
adolescents, we write to endorse H.R. 3767 and S. 989, the Ensuring Children’s Access to Specialty Care
Act of 2017. We see this legislation as a needed step toward curbing today’s demonstrated critical
shortage of pediatric medical subspecialists, pediatric surgical specialists, and pediatric mental health
specialists to help provide children with timely access to the vital health services they need. Thank you
for their introduction.
Currently, there is not only a shortage but also a significant disparity in the geographic distribution of
pediatric subspecialists trained to treat children in need of specialty care, resulting in many children in
underserved areas not receiving timely or appropriate health care. Children and their families often face
long waiting lists to see subspecialists or must travel long distances to find needed care. According to a
recent survey conducted by the Children’s Hospital Association, appointment wait times for certain
pediatric subspecialty care far exceed the prevailing benchmark of two-weeks in children’s hospitals.
The survey showed that the average time for a developmental pediatric specialist is 14.5 weeks, 8.9
weeks for neurology, and 7.5 weeks for child and adolescent psychiatry, citing just a few examples.
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