Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Recent Developments In Health Care For Children In Several States

Summaries of recent health care developments for children in Florida, Hawaii and Texas appear below.
Florida: State Senate President Ken Pruitt (R) on Wednesday said legislation to reform KidCare, the state's version of SCHIP, is "dead" and reforms would have to wait until next year, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. The bill would have expanded enrollment periods, increased outreach efforts and lowered eligibility requirements for the program (Price, Tallahassee Democrat, 5/3). Pruitt said that the bill will not be heard this session because those involved were not able to come to an agreement over financing and whether to cover undocumented immigrants. Pruitt said he would not schedule a vote on the reforms without a consensus, according to the Miami Herald. Supporters of the bill hope that Gov. Charlie Crist (R) will intervene. The issue also could be considered during a planned June special session on property taxes (Garry, Miami Herald, 5/3). The state House passed a bill earlier in the session to reform the program (Tallahassee Democrat, 5/3).

Hawaii: The state Legislature last week was expected to give final approval of a bill that would offer universal health coverage for children, the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Under the bill, uninsured children would receive coverage for immunizations, mental health treatment, hospital stays, X-rays, antibiotics, oral contraceptives and dental services. Newborns of uninsured women, children who do not qualify for other state-sponsored health plans and children of immigrants would be eligible for the program. The pilot period for the program would last three years and will be renewed if it is successful. The program's costs -- estimated at $3.5 million for the first 18 months and $2 million annually in subsequent years -- would be shared by the Hawaii Medical Service Association, the state's largest health insurer. The cost per child is estimated at $51 per month. Gov. Linda Lingle (R) is expected to sign the bill (Niesse, AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5/2).

Texas: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) on Thursday announced that he no longer opposes a House bill that would give SCHIP beneficiaries coverage for one year instead of requiring families to reapply to the program every six months, the Houston Chronicle reports. Dewhurst said he will support income verification for those at the higher end of income requirements but would not ask those families to reapply. Dewhurst expects Senate support for the measure (Elliott/Markley, Houston Chronicle, 5/4). His announcement comes as the state released figures showing that SCHIP enrollment declined by more than 17,000 children this month. Stephanie Goodman, spokesperson for the state Health and Human Services Commission, attributed the enrollment decline to a seasonal bulge in the number of families up for renewal, along with the end of a coverage extension for families affected by mistakes made by a private company that runs the SCHIP call center (Garrett, Dallas Morning News, 5/4).



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