As BlogWood readers know , Florida’s GOP dominated legislature managed to discourage so many sick children from enrolling the KidCare health insurance program that millions in unspent federal dollars will probably have to be returned.
Today’s SP Times article implies a sense of urgency, but there’s been widespread awareness of this problem for at least a month, and no bills have been passed in the meantime. I guess that the GOP just hates poor sick children .
One year ago, Florida legislators faced public pressure to deal with a growing waiting list of children needing subsidized health care.
Their answer was to spend enough money to enroll all the children who were waiting, and then stop keeping the politically charged waiting list.
A year later, they have the opposite problem: 123,000 fewer children have insurance, and more than $100-million remains unspent.
The number of KidCare participants declined from 363,000 last April to 240,000 this month, a one-third decline in a year.
So legislators are trying to avoid further embarrassment by allowing year-round enrollment instead of limiting it to January and September.
The House and Senate are poised to pass legislation as early as this week to make it easier for parents to enroll in the program. But it is possible the state’s action will be too little, too late.
“We think we need to encourage as much as we can, more children, and if folks fell through the cracks, I’m sorry. I apologize,” said House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, a member of the House leadership a year ago.
The state now has enough money for an “unprecedented” number of children to enroll, KidCare administrator Rose Naff said. But unless changes are made, Florida could be forced to return more than $100-million in federal money, because the state must give back money it doesn’t spend by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.
A waiting list will be needed only if more children enroll than the state can afford, which seems unlikely.
Florida budgeted $531-million for KidCare this year and could end the year with a surplus of $160-million.
……Lawmakers hope to pass the legislation (HB 569 and SB 1324) this week and get it to Gov. Jeb Bush by next week. The law would become effective immediately, allowing open enrollments immediately.