America’s health care law, the Affordable Care Act, turns one year old today. That’s good news for Arkansas 1-year-olds, and 7-year-olds, and lots of other Arkansas kids. But our leaders in Little Rock will make some critical decisions about how the law works here, so we all have a role in ensuring that the law works for kids.

Arkansas leaders have worked hard to build a track record of success on children’s health. Democrats and Republicans put partisan politics aside and worked together to strengthen Medicaid and ARKids First. As a result, thousands children who would otherwise be uninsured can get the preventive care they need to stay healthy and see the doctor when they get sick or injured. Affordable care means kids miss less school due to illness and issues like nearsightedness and hearing problems don’t get in the way of learning. And knowing that a playground mishap or flu outbreak won’t drive the family deeper into debt makes families more economically stable – especially now, during the worst economy in decades.

The Affordable Care Act has already delivered important wins for Arkansas kids. Children with cancer or other serious conditions can no longer be denied care because of annual or lifetime insurance limits, and insurers cannot deny coverage outright. Parents can keep college-age children on their family health insurance policies. And kids with private insurance can get the screenings and check-ups they need to stay healthy, without the out-of-pocket costs that encourage fix-it care instead of health care.

And the Affordable Care Act can deliver even bigger wins for kids in the coming years. It authorizes new insurance marketplaces or “exchanges,” to make private insurance work better. Exchange plans can make pediatrician-recommended care available to kids through private insurance, and subsidies can make care more affordable for children in middle-class families. And the law authorizes improvements to Medicaid that can make health care a reality for millions more children who are uninsured today.

But these gains for Arkansas kids are not automatic. Our leaders will make decisions today and during the next few years that will have consequences for decades to come. They will decide whether we launch an exchange at all, and they’ll decide whether it offers coverage parents can afford. They’ll decide whether insurance consumer protections-including those specifically designed to protect kids-actually work. They’ll decide whether Medicaid reaches more uninsured kids, or whether they will be left behind. And they’ll make dozens of other decisions that will determine how-or even if-the Affordable Care Act works for our kids.

Every Arkansan who cares about children’s health can help our leaders make the right choices. Policymakers need to hear that it’s time to embrace Arkansas’ long-standing tradition of putting children’s health ahead of partisan politics. They need to hear that the cost of failure is too high. They need to hear that they must keep implementation moving forward, and that making the right choices for kids is the best way to define success.

The Affordable Care Act’s first birthday is the perfect time to send a strong message to state leaders. If we get off the sidelines and into the game today, our kids will be the big winners.