By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-12-05 21:46:09 | Word Count: 636
As a candidate for governor last year, Jay Nixon wanted to dramatically expand Medicaid and provide health insurance to all Missouri children.
But now that he's actually governor? Not so much.
[ advertisement ]
Children's advocates have been pressing him since July to take simple steps that would identify and enroll children who already are eligible for Medicaid and the state Children's Health Insurance Program or SCHIP.
They got their answer last week: No.
Simple strategies could reduce the number of uninsured children in Missouri by 25 percent. More than 27,000 children who lack coverage would get it. Most of the cost would be paid by the federal government. But Mr. Nixon, the governor, is balking at what Mr. Nixon, the candidate, said he would do.
"It's an expensive option," his spokesman, Jack Cardetti, told Post-Dispatch reporter Virginia Young last week.
"The question is, when can you do it?" Here's a better question: When do uninsured kids need help most — "when you can do it," or when their families are struggling with the loss of jobs and health insurance?
As a candidate, Mr. Nixon promised to "ramp up our outreach effort," and "simplify the enrollment process" so every eligible child would get coverage. "One in 11 Missouri kids doesn't have health care, and that is simply inexcusable," he said.
There's no question that as the recession deepened, state revenues have suffered. They're down 11 percent since July. Those falling revenues have forced Mr. Nixon to cut hundreds of millions in state spending.
Covering 27,000 more children would cost state taxpayers an estimated $32.8 million. But budgeting is about setting priorities. He doesn't need approval from the Legislature to provide it to more than 27,000 uninsured kids. As a candidate, Mr. Nixon said providing health care to children was his top priority.
If his priorities have changed, he owes voters an explanation. If not, he can — and should — make it happen.
Mr. Cardetti, the governor's spokesman, says his boss doesn't get enough credit for increasing Medicaid enrollment. About 41,000 more people are covered by the program today than when he took office in January; more than 28,000 of them are children.
But that's not because of anything Mr. Nixon did to lower enrollment barriers. It's the result of a cratering economy.
Simply by cross checking computerized records of children who receive food assistance and other social services with those enrolled in Medicaid, the state could find thousands of kids who should start getting health care.
Mr. Cardetti said the administration is waiting for Congress to finish national health reform. The Senate is poised to vote on a bill that would dramatically expand Medicaid eligibility, he noted — and provide billions in additional funding.
That's irrelevant. The issue is kids who already are eligible.
Nothing in Congress would make them more eligible. Additional funding contained in the House and Senate health reform bills is earmarked for newly eligible Medicaid recipients, not those who already were eligible.
What's more, the Medicaid expansion wouldn't go into effect until 2011. That's more than a year away, too long for Missouri kids to remain uninsured.
No one is saying that enrolling those children would be easy and painless. But if covering all Missouri kids is important enough to be a campaign plank, it's important enough to accomplish.
Anything less, to borrow Mr. Nixon's phrase, is simply inexcusable.
