Cheered on by Gov. Bill Ritter, children at a Boy’s and Girl’s Club in southwest Denver participated in a 100-yard-dash and other festivities today in celebration of strides made in getting more children enrolled in Colorado health care programs.
A coalition of organizations housed under the umbrella of the “All Kids Covered Initiative” organized the event in recognition of the 106,000 children who have been insured through Medicaid and CHP+ since Ritter took office in January of 2007.
Ritter said that acquiring health insurance for children should not be a difficult task.
“By strengthening health coverage for children, we are doing the right thing for our youngest citizens and for Colorado,” said Ritter. “We still have more work to do. We need to make it as easy for children in Colorado to get health insurance as it is for them to check out a library book.”
Joan Henneberry, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, said that she agrees with Ritter that more can be done for the thousands of kids in Colorado that still lack health insurance.
“Unlike many health problems facing kids in our country today, a lack of coverage is something we can collectively solve,” said Henneberry. “We are making real progress. It’s time to finish the job.”
The GOP’s Rep. Cindy Acree, of Aurora, said that getting children covered is only half of the equation. Acree said inflexible government health insurance policies, such as prohibiting consumers from buying cheaper health plans across state lines, tie the hands of families that may otherwise be able to afford insurance on their own.
She also noted that just recently, the governor had to temporarily withhold payments to Medicaid providers due to unavoidable budget constraints.
“We have a huge problem with making sure that Medicaid is functional,” said Acree. “Providers weren’t getting paid. That doesn’t help us to get doctors to continue to take Medicaid patients. If we had a truly competitive market that allowed people to buy across state lines, some of those families wouldn’t need the safety net of Medicaid.”
Acree said that two bills that she sponsored this past legislative session, which the governor signed, were designed to help people enroll in Medicaid programs and to keep costs down. House Bill 1041 authorizes Henneberry’s department to create a universal application that makes it easier for families seeking waivers under Medicaid to allow home- and community-based services for their children. House Bill 1029 directs the department to negotiate low-cost agreements with suppliers of durable medical equipment and medical supplies for persons receiving public medical benefits.
However, Acree also said that despite the strides made in enrollment, bigger problems may lie ahead that are more formidable than delayed payments to providers.
“We’re moving in the right direction but it’s going to be counter-productive, particularly in light of the federal health-care reform, which is going to cost the state billions of dollars,” said Acree. “We can get kids on the list, but if they can’t get services, we still haven’t solved the problem.”