Nevada’s kids lack health insurance

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

Nevada lags seriously behind the nation in providing health insurance to its poor children, a national study says.

The National Center for Children in Poverty in New York said in its "Map and Track 2000" study released today that as of last year, 32.5 percent of Nevada's low-income children -- those from families that earn less than twice the federal poverty level -- lack health insurance. The survey said the national average is 20.7 percent.

But the study showed Nevada was in better shape than the national average on several indicators of child poverty. It reported that:

State officials said they are not overly concerned about the findings on health insurance, because the study does not include the tremendous surge in the last year to enroll children in a state and federally funded health insurance program designed for children of the working poor.

"I am not alarmed by the (study's) numbers because the data that was used is old and does not capture the progress that we have made," said John Yacenda, managing chief of Nevada Check Up, the program launched in October 1998 to reach out to children of low-income families.

"In the last year we have signed up 10,000 children in our program and we are reaching out to maximize our exposure," he said. "This week, for instance, we are training people at Clark County Social Services and the University Medical Center for a pilot program that will help identify more children so we can send their families application forms."

Check Up, which originally targeted about 24,000 uninsured Nevada children, provides subsidized insurance. A family of four must earn less than $34,100 a year to be eligible. Annual insurance premiums range from $40 to $200, Yacenda said.

The outreach has to be a constant effort, Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas, a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, said.

"We need to do more through the schools to reach those who could be eligible for the program," she said. "Still, with the state being so transient, I suppose we will always be fighting the numbers game."

Jeanette Hills, deputy administrator for Nevada State Welfare, noted the "Map and Track" study differs greatly from a study in July by the Great Basin Primary Care Association, which found that 20.7 percent of the state's children are uninsured -- the national average according to "Map and Track 2000."

"The figures do not surprise me, because a lot of people (who leave the welfare rolls) get low-paying jobs that do not offer health insurance for children," Hills said, noting that people who go off the welfare rolls are provided insurance for a year and many become eligible for Check Up.

The 11-year-old National Center for Children in Poverty, affiliated with Columbia University, promotes strategies to reduce the number of American children living in poverty.