Nevada fails to tap aid for kids

Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada will give up $18 million in federal money for health insurance for children of the working poor, partly because of delays in starting the Nevada Check Up program.

John Yacenda, director of the Nevada Check Up program, said Monday, however, that the program is "cooking" now after a slow beginning in 1998.

Nevada is one of 40 states that together will lose hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funds earmarked for health insurance for low-income children who do not qualify for Medicaid.

Federal officials expect about 45 percent of the $4.2 billion allotted for the first year to go unspent by the Saturday deadline. California will probably give up $590 million it failed to use.

The unspent money will be sent to 10 states that spent their full allotments under the Children's Health Insurance Program authorized by Congress in 1997.

The federal government gave Nevada $30.4 million, which the state matched with $16.4 million. The state was able to use less than half of the federal allotment during the three years it was allowed. The state money rolls over into subsequent years.

Yacenda said the state's budget for this fiscal year had 11,500 children enrolled, and it was recently approved for 15,000 children by the Legislative Interim Finance Committee.

In the program's first nine months, only 6,875 children were enrolled.

That is far below the initial 45,000 children estimated would be served by the program. The state Department of Human Resources said it overestimated the number of children eligible.

The program was stymied by delays when the federal government balked at approving Nevada's plan. There was a disagreement over how the application should be worded. Once that was solved, the signups were slower than anticipated.

Yacenda, when he was executive director of the Great Basin Primary Care Association, criticized the state in 1998 for not targeting those who really need the insurance coverage. He suggested applications should be placed at Indian reservations, churches, community centers and fast food restaurants, rather than letting them sit in state offices.

Enrollment has picked up since the early problems.

Nevada Check Up pays managed care organizations $1,050 a year to provide medical coverage for eligible children.

Fees paid by the families are on a sliding scale. For instance, a family of four earning $28,000 to $32,000 annually pays a $50 enrollment fee and $50 per quarter for a maximum of $200 a year for coverage. Dentist visits and prescriptions have a $5 co-pay.