Stung by critics, GOP lawmakers have come up with a plan to extend KidCare coverage to thousands of children. But some families would pay a high price.
Published March 5, 2004
After months of sitting on available funds, Republican lawmakers are finally poised to extend KidCare coverage to thousands of needy kids. It took a lot of prodding from colleagues and constituents to rouse Republicans out of their stupor. But the extension comes at a terrible price to thousands of working families who, under the callous scheme, would soon be told to leave the program.
The House is expected today to follow the Senate in approving the measure (SB 2000/HB 1073), less than one week into the session. That's quick work - made possible by Republican maneuvers to bypass the regular committee process and muffle dissent. Floridians can expect lots of back-slapping but little mention of Republicans' other dazzling arm-work, the kind that allows them to give with one hand what they take with the other.
The bill would fund KidCare, the subsidized insurance program for kids in families of the working poor, for 90,000 of the more than 100,000 children languishing on waiting lists since Republicans capped enrollment last year. For many, that coverage would prove short-lived. Starting in July, new enrollees - as well as families long in the program - would be kicked out if they can buy insurance at work that costs no more than 5 percent of their income. That's true even if the private policy doesn't cover immunizations or check-ups, a common failing, according to experts.
The 5-percent cap, offered late to appease critics, does not salvage the plan. It doesn't account for the extra costs of insuring parents or siblings. For KidCare families living at or below twice the poverty level (no more than $3,000 a month and often much less), private insurance is often simply out of reach. Republicans say Washington never intended to cover such families, but that's hogwash. KidCare has always included working families, in the words of former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, "whose insurance is simply too expensive for family budgets."
The Legislature's plan erects a number of other barriers bound to discourage even eligible families from applying. Republicans would abolish what's left of the state's outreach program. Gone, too, would be all waiting lists; the program would no longer keep track of families it locks out or turns away.
No one can fault lawmakers for trying to gird the program or find efficiencies. But the speed and manner in which these changes have barreled through suggest the plan is less about saving KidCare than about saving face. After months of failing to heed Democrats' call to reopen the program, Republicans needed a political win, even if low-income families had to lose.
