1. Hawaii: State Legislature Recognizes Hawaii Covering Kids
The Hawaii State Legislature celebrated Hawai`i Covering Kids' tenth anniversary and recognized the project's accomplishments. Since it began, there has been a net gain of over 40,000 kids in Hawaii's public health insurance programs! Check out the certificate and picture.
2. Ohio: Health Reform Should Leave No Child Uncovered
Thanks to bipartisan cooperation in the General Assembly, Ohio has been very successful in covering uninsured children through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), public programs with a proven track record of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. From 2004 until 2008, the share of Ohio children without health insurance dropped by 25 percent. Once the state releases funds to cover children living in families with incomes up to $66,000 (for a family of four, less for smaller families), we will reach 26,000 more Ohio children. This progress should be a model for the broader national health care reform debate. But more than 106,000 Ohio children are still uninsured and untold hundreds of thousands more have private health insurance with co-pays or deductibles so expensive their parents cannot afford to actually use it. Health reform offers a chance to ensure that these children can get the coverage--and the care--that meets their needs at a cost their parents can afford.
Congress should also seize health reform as an opportunity to strengthen the best features of CHIP and Medicaid and make them work even better by cutting the red tape. Too many Ohio children who are already eligible for Medicaid or CHIP remain uninsured because their parents do not know they qualify or because red tape prevents them from getting or staying covered. Additionally, reform should identify the easiest, fastest, and most cost-effective way to cover children from head to toe with health insurance that meets their developmental needs. Kids especially need preventive services, medical care, and oral and mental health care that helps them grow up healthy and strong. Medicaid and CHIP meet these needs through the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Program (EPSDT) and we need to maintain it through health reform.
We have been promised that those who have a health plan they like can keep it; this should be as true for children enrolled in Ohio's Medicaid and CHIP as it is for anyone else. Whatever the mechanisms, Congress must protect what works for kids even as it seeks to put health insurance within the reach of their parents. Unfortunately, some leading health-reform proposals would eliminate CHIP, a highly successful and proven federal-state partnership that is a cornerstone of Ohio's success in covering uninsured children. There has been, however, some recent movement to preserve CHIP and Ohio's leaders should support that initiative. In February of this year, Congress and President Obama made a substantial commitment to ensuring the health of our children when they enacted legislation to extend and strengthen CHIP. In July, Ohio leaders made an equally significant commitment to children when they preserved Medicaid and CHIP in the face of the state's substantial budget deficit.
Together, our federal and state leaders have turned challenges into opportunities for real progress on covering uninsured children in Ohio. Health care reform is another opportunity--if our leaders can meet the challenge of protecting the wins Ohio children have enjoyed through CHIP and Medicaid while delivering quality, affordable coverage for kids who have remained uninsured. This, of course, is no easy task. But with the health of our children at stake, it is a challenge our leaders must meet. [Amy Swanson, Akron Beacon Journal, 10/04/09]
3. Tennessee: CoverKids to Suspend New Applicant Enrollment
CoverKids program officials announced it will stop accepting new enrollment applications after November 30 as the program for uninsured children is expected to reach its budgeted capacity. "When we opened CoverKids in 2007, we said we would always operate within our financial means and manage enrollment accordingly," said Bob Duncan, who oversees CoverKids as director of the Governor's Office of Children's Care Coordination. "We've come to a point where our budget fully supports current membership which requires us to suspend the application process." CoverKids has nearly 42,000 children on its rolls, all of whom will remain enrolled in the program and will not be affected by the change providing they continue to meet eligibility requirements. It is a federally and state funded health plan through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which provides comprehensive health and dental coverage to children in families who do not qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford private health insurance.
"The state's revenue shortfall has impacted all areas of government. CoverKids received no increase in its appropriation for this fiscal year which requires even more responsible management, especially when it comes to enrollment," Duncan said. "The good news is that current members are not impacted by today's announcement." Current members and those who have already been approved for coverage will receive notification confirming current enrollment status. The program will continue to accept new applications through November 30.
While no date is set for enrollment to reopen, Duncan did say there will be a point in the future where the natural decrease in membership due to children aging out or finding other health insurance will allow for new applicants. Tennessee families earning less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $55,125 per year for a family of four, qualify for CoverKids and pay no monthly premium for the plan. Income-based co-pays are required for most services, though preventive care, including well-child visits, teeth cleanings, and vision screenings are fully covered. [The Murfreesboro Post, 10/13/09]
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