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FW How scary is this? [EMAIL PROTECTED] /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ NOMINATED FOR 7 BROADCAST FILM CRITICS AWARDS IN AMERICA has been nominated for 7 BFCA Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress Best Director, Best Writer, Best Young Actor/Actress, and Best Song. Ebert & Roeper give IN AMERICA "Two Thumbs Way Up!" Watch the trailer at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/inamerica \----------------------------------------------------------/ Op-Ed Columnist: What Ails Florida? January 12, 2004 By BOB HERBERT MIAMI The State of Florida really knows how to hurt a kid. It has money for sports stadiums. It lavishes billions of dollars' worth of tax breaks and other goodies on private corporations. It even has money for a substantial reserve fund. But, in an episode of embarrassing and unnecessary tightfistedness, it has frozen enrollment in a badly needed state health insurance program for low-income children. Some 60,000 to 70,000 children who are eligible for KidCare, Florida's version of the popular and successful children's health insurance program, have been put on waiting lists. Even kids who already have serious health problems are being placed on the lists, which are lengthening every day. No one knows when - or if - the children will get coverage. "We've had families tell us they've put off buying groceries so they can afford to take their child to the doctor," said Conni Wells, director of the Florida Institute for Family Involvement, which advises families on health matters. The institute has alerted officials to the plight of a family in Jacksonville that has three sons who need medical care now. The boys' father had been laid off for a while and during that period the children were covered by Medicaid. Now that the father has resumed working, the children have been bounced off Medicaid but qualify for coverage under KidCare. They're on a waiting list. (The family can't afford private health insurance.) One of the boys, a 14-year-old, broke his back a year ago and still needs extensive therapy. A younger brother needs an expensive growth hormone and has asthma. A third son also has asthma. Florida officials will not say when the children might actually get coverage. Most of the children on the waiting list are from families whose incomes are just over the poverty line. (The children of the very poor are covered by Medicaid.) The freeze was imposed at the end of July, ostensibly because of state budget problems. But the Florida budget problems are not as bad as those in many other states. Since last July Florida has qualified for nearly $1 billion in help from the federal government, which has come up with $400 million in increased Medicaid matching funds and more than $500 million in a fiscal relief grant. The cost of providing the authorized coverage for the tens of thousands of youngsters on the KidCare waiting lists is estimated at just $23 million for the remainder of this fiscal year. The money from the federal government could be used for that purpose, but Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature have not been willing to take that step. These kids are not part of a particularly favored constituency. Their parents do not have much political clout, and may not even vote. Some of the kids may end up desperately ill (some may die), but as a group they are not the kind of kids who get a lot of attention or sympathy from the powers that be in Florida today. A spokesman for Governor Bush, Jacob DiPietre, told me yesterday that no immediate action is planned to provide health coverage to the children on the waiting lists. "Be assured that the governor and his entire administration are concerned about the waiting list," he said. But he added, "This is a problem that requires a long-term, sustainable solution." And he made a point of noting, "The KidCare program is not an entitlement." Florida is one of 34 states that have made serious cuts in public health insurance programs for low-income people over the past two years. A study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that from 1.2 million to 1.6 million men, women and children have lost coverage as a result. The cuts are spreading, not receding, as states look for solutions to budget problems that in many cases are far more severe than Florida's. On Thursday President Bush and Governor Bush made a joint appearance in Palm Beach, where the president picked up a quick million dollars for his re-election campaign. There was plenty of laughter and glad-handing, and little talk about such unpleasant matters as the denial of health care to low-income children. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/12/opinion/12HERB.html?ex=1074931580&ei=1&en=d822faa88beb6d27 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! 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