1. Hawaii: Insured v. Uninsured Newborns
New research conducted by the Hawaii Health Information Corporation shows a decrease in the annual number of uninsured newborns from an average of 520 (1995-1999) to an average of 363 (2000-2005). Recently, there were 254 uninsured newborns in 2004 and 285 uninsured newborns in 2005 representing only 1.4% and 1.6% of newborns respectively. Reports by island and geographic areas are available in PDF format on our data page.
2. Maine: Insuring Children Must Be National Priority
Ask any parent to identify his or her greatest fear--it's usually a child getting sick. Now, consider what that fear must be like for parents who can't afford health insurance. To have a sick child for whom you can't care, or a sick child whose care will bankrupt you, is a terrible thing.
According to the federal government, 21 percent of this nation's children were uninsured as of 2004. Many of those children were eligible for coverage by Medicaid, but a substantial number of them weren't. That's because their parents earned too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford costly medical insurance. Based on the well-documented principle that children with access to routine medical care are healthier than those without, Congress enacted important legislation in 1997 to provide coverage to those children who fell through the cracks between Medicaid eligibility and insurance their parents could afford. Called the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, the program provides federal funding to cover those children through grants sent to states.
Under CHIP, states must also provide some funding as well as set guidelines for who gets the program's benefits and who does not. In Maine, for example, families whose income is up to 150 percent of the federal poverty line would qualify; in New Jersey, where one state administrator said "it costs more to be poor" because of the high cost of living, that level has been set at 300 percent of the poverty line.
The $5 billion program has brought down the numbers of uninsured children in the country; in Maine, 14,800 children are now covered under CHIP. As Gov. John Baldacci said in a letter to President Bush, "without such coverage, children are more likely to go without immunizations, end up in emergency rooms...and miss school because of untreated illnesses."
Yet that's precisely what might happen if Congress fails to cover a projected shortfall in CHIP funds. That shortfall would not only stop CHIP from extending coverage to the remaining children who need it, but might also cut coverage for those already getting it. All four members of the state's congressional delegation have urged Congress to fix the shortfall, which amounts to $900 million. The program also needs reauthorization in 2008 after ten years of operation; Maine's delegation has gone on record in favor of re-authorization.
CHIP is the kind of benefit the government should be offering. By spending dollars to prevent and treat children's health problems, that means fewer dollars must be spent down the line. We urge our congressional delegation to stand firm in their commitment to this important program, which gives Maine's children the health care they deserve--and their parents the peace of mind they should have. [11/28/06, Kennebec Journal]
3. Congress: Senator Smith (R-OR) Urges More Funding for Kids Health Insurance
To ensure the continuation of the successful State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) has urged President Bush to increase funding to the program in his Fiscal Year 2008 budget. Since the program's inception in 1997, CHIP has contributed to a one-third decline in the uninsured rate of low-income children. Today, over six million children benefit from the program. Senator Smith's letter, co-signed by several of his Senate colleagues, requested that President Bush, "ensure that the budget provides adequate federal funding for states to both maintain their existing CHIP caseloads and for states to cover all children and pregnant women up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line."
The request reflects Senator Smith's concern that the president's Fiscal Year 2008 budget will not include additional funding to fully address the CHIP shortfalls and account for growth in the program. According to Senator Smith, a lack of adequate funding will result in the loss of many current CHIP beneficiaries' health insurance and a large and growing number of states will face substantial federal funding shortfalls in their CHIP programs over the next few years.
The letter was co-signed by Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Susan Collins (R-ME), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Christopher S. Bond (R-MO), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and John Warner (R-VA). [KTVZ.com, 11/29/06]
4. Montana Kids Count Report: Economy Leaving Children Behind
Although Montana's economy has been on a healthy climb for the past four years, it has left the health of its children behind. That's the conclusion of the latest "Montana Kids Count" report on childhood well-being. The University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research produces the annual survey.
"Low-wage jobs and higher insurance premiums contribute to the increasing lack of health insurance for Montana kids, especially for low-income kids," said Steve Seninger, Montana Kids Count director. The latest statistics show 37,000 of the state's children under 18 have no health insurance coverage. That's 16 percent of Montana's children, compared with the national average of 12 percent who lack health insurance. Four years ago, 19 percent of Montana children living below the federal poverty income level had no health insurance, Seninger said. In 2005, that figure had grown to 29 percent. While funding increases to the state's Children's Health Insurance Program have allowed that service to grow by 10 percent in the same time frame, that works out to just 1,120 additional children getting insurance coverage.
Those figures run counter to the state's overall growth and economic trends. While Montana's population has grown 3.5 percent since 2000, its share of children has dropped 11 percent. In 2000, 228,370 of the state's 903,500 residents were under 18. In 2005, that split had slipped to 204,994 children out of a total population of 935,670. And that smaller number of kids is having a harder time finding jobs. The unemployment rate statewide is 3.7 percent. In 2000, unemployment was 5.2 percent. But the figures for teens go the other direction. Unemployment for ages 16-19 has gone from 12 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2004, the latest year available.
Meanwhile, per-capita incomes have increased 6.5 percent. Montana's median household income in 2000 was $29,672. Last year, that figure was $34,449. "The wages go up for certain kinds of folks, like people with technical skills, computer programmers or people in the biomedical research field," said Jim Morton of the Human Resource Council in Missoula. "But if you're a new entrant to the work force, or coming back in, you're not starting at $12 or $15 and hour with benefits. You're starting at $7 to $9 an hour with no benefits." Morton said Montana is primarily a small-business state, with companies that employ just five or 10 workers. Businesses that size typically face costs of $1,600 to $2,000 a month to offer dependent health coverage to their workers. The result is that many workers either cover only themselves or take no coverage at all because they can't afford it.
"We see them either taking high deductibles or catastrophic insurance," Morton said. "That's not helping with the day-to-day medical expenses of children." A family of four making $30,000 a year is considered to be at 150 percent of the federal poverty line. One in three Montana children live in such circumstances. [Rob Chaney, Missoulian, 11/24/06]
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