“Though Kansas is experiencing a growth in its rate of uninsured children, it is important to note that the overwhelming majority of uninsured Kansas children are income-eligible for Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, collectively known as HealthWave. When the Legislature’s expansion of HealthWave eligibility levels (from 200% to 250% of poverty) goes into effect Jan. 1, 2010, it is estimated that more than three-fourths of the uninsured children in Kansas will be eligible for coverage through HealthWave.”
Kansas Action for Children released a new report yesterday that claims Kansas is continuing to fail its children when it comes to health insurance. This is a hard fact to face in light of a long time state program called Kansas Healthwave that is supposed to provide low and no income families with health insurance for their children.
In fact, the press release by KAC ignores the failure of Kansas Healthwave to enroll children, which is clearly stated in the their report, as seen in the quote above.
In fact, the report highlights the need to increase enrollment and retain children already in the program to decrease those without insurance. These actions both involve minimal effort by the state and certainly do not call for another government program. Further, the KAC report notes what was already known, that Kansas Healthwave has been a failure of a program and one government failure doesn’t justify the need for a new one, as many on the left currently advocate.
From the report:
The best approach to addressing the state’s increased rate of uninsured children is two-fold. We need to focus on outreach efforts to ensure that more Kansas families enroll their children in HealthWave. But, we also need to place an emphasis on retaining eligible children who are already enrolled in HealthWave. Similar to other states, Kansas struggles to retain eligible children in the program, which results in children “churning” in and out of HealthWave.
Any attempt by the left to use this report as a reason for more government action is asinine in light of the current failure of government to get the job done, as highlighted by the report itself. But more importantly, such action would be dishonest and deceitful, in full contradiction of the facts, and clearly only done to advance a narrow, partisan political agenda.
“In Kansas, the percentage of uninsured children continues to rise, according to 2008 data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The increase runs counter to the national census data, which indicated a slight drop in the number of uninsured children.”
This past Saturday free market conservatives turned out at Shawnee City Hall to advocate for a return of the federal government to its constitutional bounds. They were met by liberal-socialist protesters who want more government involvement. One of the signs at the rally claimed there are 58,000 uninsured children in Kansas, an apparent fact the left wants to use as an argument to justify more government spending.
One has to wonder if liberal-socialists understand what their facts say about government involvement in the healthcare system to date. A September 10 KHI article notes that the number of uninsured children in Kansas has actually risen significantly the previous few years. This would be an apparent call for government action if you believe the government is a solution.
But doesn’t the state of Kansas already have a program in place that is supposed to insure children when their family can’t afford to do so? Of course, it’s called Kansas Healthwave!
According to the Healthwave website, parents can obtain no cost or low cost health insurance for their kids as long as their income is below 200% of the federal poverty level. That’s $3,675 per month for a family of four. With such high income guidelines, why are nearly 1 in 10 Kansas children still uninsured?
Isn’t this convincing evidence of the failure of government? Rather than finding a problem and then demanding government fix it, wouldn’t it be smarter to find out why the problem exists and then try to fix the reasons behind the problem rather than just demanding more government?
Only liberal-socialists would take a government failure and use it as fodder to demand more government.
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