February 20, 2004
Leg. drags feet: 100,000 children still left behind
You remember Kidcare, right? That’s the program that Jeb! allowed to flounder despite the availability of federal funding. Now, well over 100,000 kids are on the waiting list for insurance and the Legislature is wasting time when they should be scrambling to restore funding:
House leaders proposed giving subsidized health care to tens of thousands of children on a waiting list for Florida KidCare but tightening eligibility for the government program.The plan, which would spend $6.5 million in state money to bring some 90,000 children into the various programs of KidCare, was presented Thursday to the House Appropriations Committee but not yet scheduled for a vote.
The legislation also would limit participation to children whose parents could not get health insurance from their employers without paying more than 7.5 percent of their family income.
It's similar to a proposal put forth by the Senate.
A vote on the proposal was postponed in the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Republicans and Democrats blamed each other.
KidCare is intended for families who make less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level - that was $36,800 for a family of four last year. Monthly premiums are $15 to $20, and the state and federal governments pay the rest.
If we had universal health care in this country we would not have problems like these to solve. Our for-profit medical industry is the most expensive in the world, yet millions of families are completely without coverage.
Posted by Norwood at February 20, 2004 08:30 AM