KidCare Needs to Be Expanded

Florida House Rep. Amanda Murphy sent out this press release on her support of Medicaid expansion in Florida.

“There are many points with the plan that I agree with and plan on supporting, but it is missing one crucial aspect in protecting vulnerable Floridians and that is Medicaid Expansion,” said Representative Amanda Murphy. “As we learned last week, the decision to not take the Medicaid Expansion dollars last year could cost Florida businesses hundreds of millions of dollars. The Florida Legislature needs to have conversations about protecting the vulnerable by assuring access to affordable and quality healthcare and eliminating the possibility of millions in fines to our small businesses.”

Representative Murphy announced earlier this week her intentions to file a companion bill to SB 710 filled by Senator Garcia, Senate District 38, last week. The bill would provide increased benefits through the Healthy Kids and Healthy Florida programs. Healthy Florida uses available federal funding to assist individuals and families with purchasing private insurance coverage.

The Purpose of Sen. Rene Garcia's bill is to expand Kidcare coverage

Revising the components of Florida Kidcare; prohibiting a cause of action from arising against the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation for failure to make health services available; amending s. 409.8132, F.S.; revising the eligibility of the Medikids program component; revising the enrollment requirements for Medikids; amending s. 409.8134, F.S., relating to Florida Kidcare; conforming provisions to changes made by the act; amending s. 409.814, F.S.; revising eligibility requirements for Florida Kidcare

A reason why this bill might be dead on arrival is that coverage for the children of legal immigrants. There is some conflicting interest involved. Garcia is a KidCare activist.

Garcia present a previous version of this bill. These are the numbers Garcia said Kidcare expansion for children of legal immigrants would cost.

The maximum cost to the state of extending coverage to legal immigrant children would be $17.6 million.

To pay for it there is unspent state funds already earmarked for children’s health coverage as well as money freed up as a result of increased federal match rates. This means there is a bare minimum of $39.1 million in state funding available to fund this important coverage.

Investment in coverage of these otherwise uninsured children will draw down an additional $43.1 million in federal funds.

I’d be happy to provide to you and your staff with a cost brief detailing all of this information.

According to a Miami Herald article, Florida has the second highest rate of uninsured people under the age of 65 in America. The problem is Florida has a McJob economy.

Steven Marcus, chief executive of the Health Foundation of South Florida, a public charity that funds healthcare initiatives in the region, attributed Miami-Dade’s high rate of uninsured residents to the county’s large number of small businesses, many of which do not offer health insurance to their employees — the most common method for Americans to receive coverage.

“We’re a very small-business, service economy,’’ Marcus said. “Our small businesses have never supported healthcare.’’

Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford made a political decision to deny Medicaid expansion. This has an effect on the many children in Florida that is denied health coverage. There is no rationale moral reason to deny children health care.

Offensive Comment By Joe Negron

Joe Negron is the chair of the Health and Human Services Subcommittee. Republicans in the Florida are going to commit drastic cuts to Medicaid matching grants. Negron plans $1 to $2 billion in cuts. The conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation has urged Florida to entirely dropout of Medicaid. Patients have died in Arizona from Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid cuts.

Negron chaired a hearing and made this shockingly offensive comment.

“I don’t think they have a KidCare program in Ethiopia or India,” he said, admonishing people testifying before his committee to “stop the self-flagellation about all the things we’re not doing.”

He went on to say “I don’t want this to be the doom and gloom committee,” and that “Let’s celebrate the good things we’re doing in health and human services.”

Negron really doesn't care if children do not have health care access to Kidcare. Saying the Florida health care system is better than "Ethiopia or India" is holding the state system to a low standard.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush ran Kidcare so poorly the program went into debt because he refused to provide matching funding to receive federal money. The result was poor children were placed on a 700,000 person waiting list. I like to hear Negron provide academic proof the running a Kidcare deficit created jobs.

Why Jeb Bush Is No A Policy Wonk

Jeb Bush says he would endorsed Sarah Palin if she is the 2012 Republican nominee. Bush then tells John King Republicans must offer 21 century policy proposals on creating jobs,education and lowering health care costs. Bush can not make that statement with any credibility when Florida had the nation's lowest graduation rate two of the years Bush was in office. Bush is also responsible for taking 700,000 poor children off of Kidcare and driving the program into a deficit.

No person with such a resume deserves the policy wonk moniker he never earned. What serious policy wonk on the Left or Right would say he is willing to endorse Sarah Palin. The latter whom thought that health care was part of the TARP bill. If Jeb Bush is willing to publicly say that he would endorse Palin then he could care less about policy.

Phone Sex With Charlie Crist

Post On Politics reports a Charlie Crist answering machine voice message refers calls to a phone sex chat line. The refered numbers was suppose to be for Kidcare. Parents were greeted with this exciting message.

“Hey there, sexy guy. Welcome to an exciting new way to go live, one on one, with hot, horny girls waiting right now to talk to you.”

Audio is below:

Florida Republicans Make Medicaid & KidCare Suffer

Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist have left KidCare underfunded. Bush lost $20 million in federal funds for KidCare. Bush intentionally let KidCare funding die. The waiting list for children with medical needs was over 700,000. Parents were greeted with the answering machine message: "It is not possible to tell you where your child is on the wait list or how soon he or she will be enrolled."

Barack Obama's stimulus package may not help Florida KidCare. The state is eligible for $33 billion. The problem is Florida has to match $1 billion for every $2 billion in federal funds. In 2007, Kathy Castor urged Crist to call a special session for KidCare. Crist let Senate President Ken Pruitt let KidCare die in session. The Republican Pruitt blamed KidCare not passing on it's supporters.

"The Senate has been vilified about this, and that's okay, " Pruitt said. "But this didn't happen in the Florida Senate. It's just these providers and these groups finally got together to come up with an agreement, which they didn't, and the process we have here gave them ample time to do it."

How has the Republican-led Florida Senate "been vilified?" Does the GOP want to be known as the party that is against child heath care? Michelle Malkin's attacks on Graeme Frost showed utter insensitively. Republicans demonize children, but support CEO pay raises. Talk about fucked-up priorities.

We now learn Florida is not likely to receive funding for Medicaid.

And Crist's budget writers are going to have to deal with some troublesome details.

For example, the bill provides $87 billion nationally for Medicaid, the federal-state program that pays for medical care for the sick, elderly and poor. Medicaid enrollment in Florida is up by more than 10 percent.

But to qualify for the money, states are required to maintain the same level of Medicaid coverage that they provided in July.

Cut Medicaid as enrollment increases. That was bound to bite Crist and Republicans in the ass. Republicans did health care on the cheap.

"Most of the things in there require us to spend more money in order to get more money," Amy Baker explain, coordinator of the Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research. "So there are going to be hard decisions to make."

Crist and the Florida legislature may have to increase state funding for Medicaid. Florida is in a fiscal deficit. That solution is unlikely.

Policy people need to understand how Florida got into the current health care crisis. The message should be citizens will not tolerate poor health care policies. Preventive health care saves lives and money. Crist and fellow Republican's may have to borrow money to receive Medicaid and KidCare funds. The money would have to be paid back with interest. Fiscally, Republicans counter productive health care policies cost the taxpayer more. Enough is enough.

Florida KidCare In Shambles

Jeb Bush refused to fund Florida KidCare. 90,000 children with medical needs were placed on a waiting list. Florida lost $20 million in federal matching funds. Gov. Charlie Crist had a chance to lead on KidCare and passed.

The stimulus package offers $33 billion for KidCare. The problem is once again matching funds. Florida will get $2 billion for billion billion budgeted into KidCare. State Sen. Nan Rich is hoping to divert Medicaid into KidCare. It is uncertain if that will be allowed.

The St. Petersburg Times editorial board weighs in on KidCare.

Small Government Equals Bad Government

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty criticized then President-elect Barack Obama's stimulus package. Pawlenty was asked if he would turn down federal aid to maintain his small government principles. Pawlenty balked.

"I'm not a big-government fan," said Charlie Crist. "But there are times when government needs to help." Crist hopes to use stimulus money for schools. There is a snag. Crist and the Florida legislature cut education funding below 2004-05 levels. Florida may not qualify for education stimulus money.

But the state is below that threshold. In fact, school funding coming directly from the state is now lower than it was in the 2004-05 school year. With Florida's budget shortfall for next year ballooning toward $4 billion, it's not clear it could meet that requirement.

That would mean it could not get the $3.5 billion in estimated stabilization funds, though it would still be eligible for about $2.3 billion earmarked to help poor kids and to renovate schools, among other items.

Crist wanted small government. The result was an underfunded education system.

All This Happened Before

Jeb Bush cut Kidcare to the bone. The cuts made Kidcare ineligible for $20 million in federal funds. The result were children placed on a 700,000 waiting list. Crist is right. There are times when government needs to help.

Dan Gelber vs. Mel Martinez

Florida House Minority Leader Dan Gelber took Mel Martinez to task for calling SCHIP "socialized medicine."

"...As Chairman of the Republican National Committee, I recognize your role and responsibility to defend and endorse President Bush’s legislative agenda, including his opposition to the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan. However, the rhetoric of “entitlements” and “socialized medicine” seems designed to fire up the President’s political base rather than honestly helping your colleagues figure out how to fix a system that has left more than nine million American children without health care. Ironically, your position hurts Florida more than nearly any other state as only Texas has a higher percentage of uninsured children than we do. .."

Martinez should pay attention to what is going on in his neighborhood. 5,805 children in Broward County rely on Kidcare. Part of it's funding comes from SCHIP. Florida's Kidcare program has a 700,000 waiting list. The state does not have enough money to provide healthcare for poor children. To deny children healthcare is cruel. Martinez voted no on SCHIP. That says much about where his priorities are.

Update: Gus Bilirakis voted no on SCHIP.

Clock Ticking On KidCare

Florida lost $20 million in federal funds for KidCare because Jeb Bush wanted to cut funding for the program. The program has over 700,000 children on a waiting list for medical treatment. Senate President Ken Pruitt killed a bill that would have made enrollment easier. The message is clear. Republicans want to see KidCare and the Agency for Persons with Disabilities die.

Rep. Kathy Castor is pushing the state legislature to call a special session on KidCare. Federal funds are allotted based on enrollment. Florida will lose (another) $20 million if enrollment is not increased.

"The timing is critical because of the reauthorization of SCHIP to be taken up by Congress over the next several months," Castor said. "We've got to be able to argue that even though Florida has lost ground over the last several years, we've made a commitment, we've put in these reforms."

Marco Rubio said that KidCare will be in the special session.. Governor Charlie Crist has been noncommittal on if he will push for KidCare in the special session. Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Crist urging him to include KidCare in the special session.

In the letter to Crist, Democratic legislative leaders wrote, "It seems to us that you, along with [CFO] Alex Sink, could lead negotiations over the next month with representatives from the Legislature and the provider community to iron out the remaining few details." The lawmakers added, "If you are able to succeed in forging a final product, we would urge you to include KidCare reform in the June special session."

Will Crist use his high approval rating to reform KidCare? The Governor has an excellent opportunity to lead. Lackluster answers as there "may be an opportunity" to put KidCare in the special sessiion won't put pressure on the Florida legislature.

Compassionate Conservatism: Kidcare

I wrote yesterday about the Florida legislature making cuts in Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The Florida Senate will not make changes to make enrollment into KidCare easier.

CFO Alex Sink was on the Senate floor, looking to talk with senators about passing even the most noncontroversial parts of a recently negotiated KidCare package.

She and others are looking to simply pass some administrative language that would remove barriers to enrollment into KidCare.

Sink said she had a lot of good conversations, but "not with the people who count." Sink said Pruitt pretty much told her the issue is dead. She said she's not giving up yet, with two and a half more days left until the end of session.

KidCare is an issue that the Left should pound Pruit with. There are already 13,000 children on a waiting list and he tells Sink that he can't be bothered with it. What a fucking pathetic excuse of a civil servant.

Conpassionate Conservatism: Agency for Persons with Disabilities Edition

The Agency for Persons with Disabilities has performed disgracefully. Former Director Shelley Brantley would not pay $360 for thermal blankets for Kevin Estinfil. The boy's body can not regulate body temperture. Brantley decided to spend thousands fighting in court over not paying a $360 tab. Jeb Bush refused to take federal money for KidCare. The result was 7,000 children being placed on a waiting list for medical care. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities waited five years to answer requests for financial assistance for Marissa Amora. The girl suffered permanent injuries after Department of Children and Families placed her back in her abusive home.

The Florida Legislature's answer to these problem is to cut the budget of Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The department has a deficit created by Bush. His cost cutting actually put the agency in a $126 million hole.

That sum is nearly one-fifth of the agency's annual budget, and an estimated 13, 000 eligible clients are on a waiting list for services.

"I've never seen a health and human services budget cut that deeply, " said John Hall of the Association of Retarded Citizens. "There's no way that's going to happen without the families of people with developmental disabilities losing support."

The budget also compels the agency to impose cost-containment measures, which are expected to curtail the scope of services for clients.

It is inexcusable to not give children medical care. The Florida Legislature can give $60 million to the Florida Marlins. They cut medical care to children on a waiting list. This is outrageous.

Kathy Castor KidCare Press Conference

Kathy Castor will hold a press conference on KidCare tomorrow.

WHAT: SCHIP/KidCare Press Conference with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor

WHEN: Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 10 a.m.

WHERE: Hillsborough High School, 5000 Central Avenue, Tampa, FL 33603

Compassionate Conservatism: KidCare

In 2004, Jeb Bush and the Florida legislature halted enrollment into KidCare. The list of children on the waiting list quickly grew. Today it is 700,000. A recorded voice on the KidCare help line told listeners, ""It is not possible to tell you where your child is on the wait list or how soon he or she will be enrolled."

Bush refused to use money from the federal economic stimulus package to help fund KidCare. The result did the opposite of saving money. Florida lost $20 million in federal matching funds. There was a willing effort not to serve poor children.

Some Republicans have admitted it was a mistake a few years ago when the GOP-controlled Legislature intentionally made it harder to enroll by requiring more documentation.

The Legislature also stopped spending money on active outreach -- having caseworkers go into communities to try to make sure families know about KidCare.

''If you don't know about the program, how will you be able to participate?'' asked Rep. Joyce Cusack, D-DeLand.

Miss Cusack, that was the whole point. Conservatives view government medical programs as socialism. It doesn't matter if many children with life threatening illnesses were denied doctor visits. Ideology is so much more important. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities refused to give Kevin Estinfil thermal blankets worth $360. They would rather spend thousands of taypayer dollars fighting in court. Kevin can not regulate his body temperature. He freezes without the blanket. But conservative principles must be maintained.