There is an apparent effort on the part of the individual states that occurred last year, to see that a greater number of low income children and adults are covered with health insurance. This is a positive move but economists and health experts are saying that economic indicators suggest that the gains might come apart during the economic slowdown.
Kaiser Family Foundation economist Diane Rowland says that in 2007, there was a lot of activity, and that the states took the lead in moving toward health reform. The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-partisan research group.
Rowland points out that in 2007, 26 states broadened eligibility for Medicaid, for example. Medicaid is a program for low-income residents that provides for health care. Still,she says, the troubled economy, along with the housing crisis, coupled to high gas prices, could force states rescind support. She says that typically states will expand their programs during the good economic times, but when time get bad, they reduced benefits.
According to recent census figures that were released on Tuesday, the numbers of uninsured throughout the country dropped by 1.3 million during 2007. This corresponds to the same number enrolled in state Medicaid programs. Along with Medicaid, other government insurance programs, among them Medicare and military health care, were also expanded.
Last year, a major priority for the states was to allow coverage for an additional number of children. In states such as Oklahoma and Louisiana, expanded Medicaid was extended to cover the children of families earning up to 250% of poverty level income, or for a family of three, $44,000 in income. Because of this change, Louisiana was able to enroll 15,000 more children in Medicaid and a similar program from January on, according to Louisiana's secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals Alan Levine.
The above mentioned states, along with some others, had initially tried to raise eligibility to 300% of poverty, which amounts to $52,800 for a family of three. In August of 2007 however, a federal directive was drawn up that limited expansion to 250%.
Levine agrees with this ruling and says that the scarcest resources should be spent in those who are most needy. Mike Fogarty, who is the CEO of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, says however, that a larger increase could have meant reaching an additional 50,000 children through his state.
Next year, the United States Congress will be debating the renewal of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the numbers of uninsured families will certainly become an issue then. At the present time the cost of the program is running at about $5 billion a year.
Resident Bush last year vetoed congressional efforts to increase funding for the uninsured twice while stating that the plans increased taxes and broadened a program intended for low-income children to include those in middle-income brackets. The SCHIP program was extended up until the spring of 2009 but did not receive additional funding.
