A bill to restore government health insurance for children of working-poor Arizona families is a likely failure, but advocates say thereโs hope in the budget process.
Proposed legislation that passed the Arizona House but failed to get a hearing in the Senate would have lifted the freeze imposed on enrollment in KidsCare, which is Arizonaโs version of the federal Childrenโs Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP.
Arizona is the only state in the country without an active CHIP program.
In spite of that setback, advocates of KidsCare say thereโs still hope during the state budget process next week.
10 PERCENT UNINSURED
Lifting the enrollment freeze on KidsCare would not cost the state any money for at least two years. The program will cost an estimated $76 million during the 2017 fiscal year, and all of it is available through federal dollars, said Dana Wolfe Naimark, who is president and CEO of the Phoenix-based Childrenโs Action Alliance.
โThe bill is dead, unless something extraordinary happens, which I do not expect,โ Naimark said. โThe other pathway is to do it through the budget process. Even though the budget amount is zero from the state budget, it can still be part of the budget process.โ
Supporters say KidsCare provides much-needed health coverage for children of families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, a government health insurance program for low-income people. And they say if Arizona doesnโt use the federal money thatโs available, it will go to kids in other states.
Critics have concerns that the state will end up obligated, whether legally or politically, to pick up the cost once the federal government stops picking up the entire tab.
Arizonaโs Medicaid program is called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCCS. Arizonaโs rate of uninsured children is 10 percent, the third highest rate in the country. Only Texas and Alaska are worse, according to Georgetown Universityโs Center for Children and Families.
The national rate of uninsured children is 6 percent.
Arizonaโs lack of a CHIP program is fueling its rate of uninsured children, advocates say.
ENROLLMENT FREEZE
Before it was frozen in 2010, KidsCare provided health care to low-income children in families with incomes from 138 percent to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or an income of $27,000 to $40,000 per year for a family of three. At one time, it enrolled nearly 50,000 children. The current enrollment is now down to 711 and expected to dwindle to zero unless the freeze is lifted.
Advocates of the program say health insurance thatโs available on the federal marketplace is out of those familiesโ budget, even with federal subsidies.
At the time the Legislature froze the program, Arizona had to provide federal matching funds for KidsCare. But currently, the federal government would provide all of the costs for at least the next two years and possibly until 2019. But extending it two years would be up to Congress.
โThe Legislature can put into the budget directions to lift the freeze and the authorization for the state to draw down the federal money for KidsCare,โ Naimark said.
โOur job in the next few weeks is to make sure it doesnโt fall through the cracks and to make sure it stays a budget priority. And also, we need the governor to support it.โ
DUCEY NONCOMMITTAL
So far Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has been noncommittal about KidsCare, a stance he reiterated on Thursday through spokesman Daniel Scarpinato.
The governorโs office is in โongoing negotiationsโ with the House and Senate leadership regarding the state budget, Scarpinato wrote in an email.
โAs the governor has said, heโs open to discussing any good idea that works within the confines of available dollars, and doesnโt obligate the state to ongoing commitments we canโt afford,โ Scarpinato wrote.
โThe governorโs top priority, as reflected in his budget proposal, is more money for K-12 education.โ
Naimark said Arizonans can voice their support by calling legislators and the governor now if they think it is important to restore KidsCare.
โThey havenโt really begun the hardcore negotiations yet,โ Naimark said. โWe expect next week everyoneโs attention to move to the budget. So I think itโs perfect timing for people to make their voices heard.โ
