Bring It On!

The State loses cash if needy kids aren’t insured.

SANFORD - J.W. Loucks looked a bit bored as he listened to speeches promoting Florida KidCare, the state's health-insurance program for needy children.

There was little in the 14-year-old's outward appearance that hinted at the crippling migraine headaches and chronic asthma that plague him, caused by a lesion on his brain. If it weren't for KidCare, his mother said, J.W. would probably be dead.

J.W. is a KidCare success story.

43rd: How Florida ranks in the country in children's health-insurance coverage.

$20 million: The amount Florida returned last year in 2005 federal matching dollars.

$140 million: The amount Florida has returned since 1998 in federal matching dollars.

But speakers at a news conference Monday warned that without work to streamline the tangle of red tape that keeps enrollment down, the state will continue to lose millions of dollars in federal matching funds.

"I'm terrified that if this goes away, my son will lose," Robin Loucks said.

State Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, called on Gov. Charlie Crist to include KidCare reform in next month's special session.

"We've got to put this on the calendar or face losing federal matching dollars," Randolph said. "For every dollar we refuse to put in . . . we send $3 back to Washington."

Last year, Florida returned $20 million in 2005 federal matching dollars because it did not enroll enough children.

The federal grant matches 71 cents for every 29 cents the state spends, said Tara Klimek, a spokeswoman for state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. Since 1998 the state has returned $140 million, she said.

At issue are policies that make it difficult to enroll children and keep them in the program once they are signed up.

Three programs under the KidCare umbrella cover more than 200,000 children, but an estimated 614,000 Florida children remain uninsured.

Florida ranks 43rd in the country when it comes to children's health-insurance coverage, said Dr. Edward Zissman, chief executive officer of Altamonte Pediatric Associates.

He read a letter from the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics calling on Crist to include the issue in the special session, which begins Sept. 18.

A bipartisan effort to boost enrollment by removing some bureaucratic barriers failed during the regular session that ended in May.

Legislation passed by the House bogged down in the Senate because of disagreements about which state agency should oversee the program and whether immigrant children and those of state employees should participate.

Lawmakers did approve spending an additional $18 million to increase enrollment by 33,000.

Monday's news conference was one of four in the state to promote enrollment in the program, said Jodi Ray, director of Florida Covering Kids and Families, an advocacy group that helps states maximize funding.

Crist is pushing for more enrollment outreach through news conferences and daylong enrollment fairs, such as the one in Sanford on Monday for children in Orange and Seminole counties, Ray said.

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