Insuring every Utah child is right thing to do during tough times

Policy efforts to bring meaningful change to Utah's faltering health-care system will take time, but as the Utah Legislature lays the groundwork for comprehensive health reform in the upcoming session, improving children's health coverage should be its highest priority.

Last year, both the Legislature and the governor made a commitment to reform health care and to provide relief to the state's uninsured. Given the current economic crisis, it may be tempting to renege on that promise and leave the state's 90,000 uninsured children in the lurch. But that would be a grave mistake.

Covering kids during hard times is the right thing to do for our struggling families and for our economy. Programs like CHIP and Medicaid garner much-needed federal money for the state; cutting rather than expanding these essential programs is a lose-lose for kids and Utah's financial health. For every dollar the state spends on CHIP, it receives $4 from the federal government, effectively discounting the cost of insuring kids through CHIP by 80 percent. Moreover, the federal funds that CHIP and Medicaid bring into the state generate thousands of jobs and boost the local economy.

This generous federal subsidy is just one reason why every major successful state health-reform effort has built on the foundation of insuring all kids. The other reasons are just as compelling: We know that children are inexpensive to cover when compared to adults, states have a framework in place to achieve this goal, and polls show that Americans overwhelmingly support such a policy. Indeed, there is broad consensus among Utahns that insuring all kids should be addressed by our elected officials.

Utah is in an ideal position to lead on this issue. Research has shown that Utah outperforms almost every other state in delivering high quality health care at a low cost. Unlike other states, Utah has the resources and infrastructure available now to extend basic coverage to our uninsured kids through existing programs, innovative approaches and minimal new investment.

How might we achieve this goal? A key first step is to improve enrollment among children already eligible for CHIP and Medicaid (those below 200 percent of the federal poverty level). Some 77 percent of those currently eligible for CHIP are not enrolled.

A second important step is to expand CHIP eligibility to children with family incomes between 200 and 250 percent of the federal poverty level ($42,400-$53,000 for a family of four). Roughly one quarter of uninsured children in Utah fall into this income category — a fact which underscores the need for affordable options for cash-strapped families.