Uninsured children’s health care program debated

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 1997 | 12:03 p.m.

And there are fears that some low-income families may drop their health policies now in order to qualify for the free state coverage, which, in many cases, will include more benefits.

There are about 60,000 to 80,000 children in Nevada without health insurance. The state must decide which of these children get first crack at the coverage and how many services should be covered.

"There are many difficult decisions to be made," says Charlotte Crawford, director of the state Human Resources Department, who is holding hearings to get recommendations on the proposed health insurance program.

The final hearing will be in Las Vegas on Friday.

At a public hearing last Friday in Reno, there were lots of ideas but not enough money to go around.

The state has $20 million available for the insurance program and estimates it will cost about $1,000 a year for coverage for one child under an HMO plan. Witnesses at the hearing said it's essential that the policy pay for prescription drugs.

Michael Rodolico, director of Health Access for Washoe County, said a child could go to a doctor to get a diagnosis but without the proper drugs, the ailment won't be cured.

It's estimated that to provide prescription drugs would increase the premium by $60 a year. And it could cost $250 more a year in premiums if dental services are provided.

Rodolico suggested that in light of limited funding, the program start covering the youngest children first.

But others suggested that all the children in the poorest families be covered first. They argued that to only cover the youngest would cause problems in families with several youngsters of varying ages.

Children in families with an annual income of less than $30,000 would be covered under the preliminary state plan. It won't provide insurance for children already covered by a private policy or Medicaid.

Questions were raised about families that now have insurance but who would cancel the policy to qualify for the new free program. Crawford and Chris Thompson, head of the state Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, said it would be difficult to police insurance cancellations.

The base policy would cover inpatient and outpatient hospital care; physician services; mental health; substance abuse; oral surgery; ambulance; home health care; laboratory; and X-rays.

The state is trying to determine if there's enough money, without cutting back on the number of people served, to include prescription drugs, vision, hearing and dental coverage.

"I'm confident we will have prescription drugs included but it may be limited," Thompson said after the hearing.

He also indicated that some families that can afford it may have to pay a small monthly premium.

Deidre Hammon of the Nevada Disability Advocacy and Law Center, urged Crawford to include children with disabilities. At present families cannot afford this care and the child ends up in an institution.

Ann Cory of Planned Parenthood, told the hearing that coverage should be provided for pregnant teenagers, which has been a major problem in Nevada. She said this would not only help the teenager, but also the child.

The state health insurance program was initiated by Congress. Nevada is entitled to $30 million annually for five fiscal years. But the state will be picking up only about $13.5 million in federal funds the first year since it has only $7.4 million extra as a match.