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KidCare enrollment plunge called worrisome

TALLAHASSEE - A year after state lawmakers tightened eligibility requirements for a subsidized insurance program for children, enrollment in KidCare is plummeting - down 100,000 since last year.

That was partly what lawmakers intended when they increased the documentation required from parents to get children into KidCare. The goal was to restrict it to the truly needy.

But enrollment dropped dramatically in December, January and February. A report this week showed February enrollment at about 248,000 children.

The decline is worrying some that needy uninsured children won't get health care until they have to go to emergency rooms.

KidCare is designed to provide health care to children from working families who often make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but can't afford insurance. Most families in the program pay $15 to $20 a month in premiums.

In the past, families could enroll children all year. Lawmakers also changed that, restricting enrollment to two monthlong periods a year, starting Jan. 1 and Sept. 1.

[Last modified March 4, 2005, 00:30:22]