By Paul Tuthill
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-968136.mp3
Boston, MA – Healthcare advocates in Massachusetts have launched a campaign to enroll more children in health insurance plans. Despite the state's healthcare law that mandates insurance for adults, many children fall through cracks in the system. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports..
Dozens of hospitals and community health centers across Massachusetts will make a concerted effort this month to identify children lacking health insurance and sign them up for coverage, according to Amy Whitcomb-Slemmer, the executive director of the consumer group, Healthcare For All, which is leading the initiative.
The individual mandate in the Massachusetts Health Care law of 2006 applies only to adults. But the law did create several programs intended to make it affordable for parents to obtain health insurance for their children.
Massachusetts has one of the highest health insurance coverage rates for children in the country, according to Slemmer..close to 99 percent, but she said that still leaves thousands of children without insurance.
The reasons for children going without health insurance vary, but Slemmer said economic factors families struggling with job losses or pay cuts as health insurance premiums rise ..is likely the top reason.
The are also bureaucratic reasons that can keep children un-insuried, according to Kate Bicego, the consumer education and enrollment manager for Healthcare for All. For example that state requires single parents applying for subsidized insurance to provide information about health insurance the absent parent may have.
Bicego says people, who qualify for state subsidies, will sometimes drop children from their employer provided health insurance because of reimbursement delays
Healthcare for All has identified sixty five hospitals and health centers that are part of its campaign to enroll more children. Ed Sayer, executive director of the Hilltown Community Health Centers in Worthington and Huntington, says flyers are being distributed and staff is paying close attention to the insurance status of children..
Massachusetts has wrestled over making state subsidized insurance available to legal immigrants both adults and children The legislature, has cut funding for it, from state budget since 2009. Advocate for immigrants, who sued over the cuts, won a favorable ruling last week from the state's highest court.