November 30, 2004
Kid careless
Last spring, the GOP led legislature dealt with the fact that tens of thousands of poor Florida children were on a waiting list for subsidized health care by eliminating the waiting list. No list, no problem.
They also increased the paperwork burden for those lucky enough to already be enrolled in the program, thus ensuring an annual turnover that will make room for new enrollees by disqualifying existing kids. Get ready for lots more stories like this one.
Children in nearly 50,000 financially struggling Florida families could lose state-subsidized health insurance on Wednesday because their parents have failed to submit the proper paperwork -- and today is the last day to send it in.Administrators of the program known commonly as KidCare say they have no choice: Parents are required by a new law to file a handful of wage and tax documents annually, proving their children's eligibility.
Chairman Muhammad, a single mother from Miami, said she did all that but received a notice from the state last week asking for the paperwork anyway. The letter doesn't mention that she has until today to submit the information.
But, she said, she has mailed the information four times after receiving a notice this summer that she must reenroll her son, who suffers from asthma and attention deficit disorder. One of his medicines costs $100 for a month's supply. Right now, she pays $5 for it, plus a monthly $20 fee to KidCare.
Like other parents in the program, she said she couldn't afford the medications without state help. And like many others, she has had trouble calling the KidCare hot line or faxing the information.
''I left the paperwork in the fax overnight, and when I came back it was blinking: redial, redial,'' said Muhammad, a 42-year-old insurance risk management specialist with a Miami-Dade hospital.
''I know how these things work,'' she said. ``I'm starting to think somebody's throwing this away. I'm probably too expensive or something.''
......The program serves 340,000 children statewide.
KidCare's expanded paperwork requirement was passed in the spring by the Legislature as waiting lists to get on the program -- and the newspaper stories about them -- piled up. To the dismay of some Democrats and South Florida lawmakers, Republican leaders in both legislative chambers dealt with the program by adding more money to temporarily wipe out the waiting list of 90,000 children, abolishing future waiting lists by capping enrollment, and making enrollment more restrictive.
SMALLER PROGRAM
Open enrollment is scheduled for next month for 50,000 children on a first-come, first-served basis.
......(Rose) Naff (the administrator overseeing KidCare) said most other states have similar restrictions. She said parents can call her office, submit information by fax or even e-mail their paperwork if they can scan it into a computer.
Told she could scan the documents and send them by e-mail, Muhammad responded: ''Now I have to find a scanner? What's next?'' she asked. ``It's like they want to discourage me.''
Yeah, it’s almost as if the GOP has absolutely no compassion for the plight of the poor.
Posted by Norwood at November 30, 2004 07:28 AM