In North Carolina, 264,000 children lack health care coverage—that is enough children to stretch from Greensboro to Wilmington holding hands.
The current health care system is no longer working for many of North Carolina’s children. The state has sustained the second largest decline in employer-provided health insurance in the country, leaving 1-in-8 children without health insurance. If these children joined hands, they would stretch from Greensboro to Wilmington. In 2006, a working group of health care and civic leaders led by Action for Children North Carolina commissioned an actuarial study and recommended the implementation of Carolina Cares for Children, an affordable plan making health insurance available to nearly all uninsured children at an affordable premium rate. Carolina Cares for Children eventually led to N.C. Kids' Care, a plan to expand health insurance coverage to more North Carolina children.
In North Carolina, children in families making less than the federal poverty line ($22,050 for a family of four in 2009/10) are eligible for health care coverage through Medicaid. Children in families making between $22,050 and $44,100 (for a family of four) are eligible for N.C. Health Choice. Children in families making more than 200% of the federal poverty line ($44,100 or more) are not currently eligible for state health care coverage programs.
The N.C. General Assembly passed N.C. Kids' Care during the 2007 legislative session. Kids' Care would provide children in families earning up to 300 percent of the FPL ($66,150 in 2009/10 for a family of four) access to affordable health insurance on a sliding premium scale.
The expansion was due to be implemented in July 2008, but lack of federal funding and a limiting Bush administration directive prevented expansion at that time. In 2009, a new Congress reauthorized the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the President rescinded the previous administration's August 17th directive that was limiting states' ability to cover more children. SCHIP reauthorization and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act meant important federal support for North Carolina's Medicaid and Health Choice programs.
In the 2009 legislative session, the N.C. General Assembly appropriated $17 million to increase the Health Choice rolls by just over 9,000 children -- a great success in the midst of the budget crisis. The 2010 and 2011 budgets maintained adequate funding to prevent enrollment caps from hampering Health Choice enrollment. The 2011 budget also extended Community Care of NC (CCNC), a provider-driven case management system for Medicaid patients, to Health Choice patients as well. This should result in better health outcomes and savings for the state.
As the state pulls out of the current recession, Action for Children and partners will be advocating for full funding of Health Choice and implementation of N.C. Kids' Care.
Action for Children strongly supported federal leaders' efforts to insure all Americans. Check out Action for Children's Health Reform 2009 blog to see how it all played out.
Also, check out videos of real North Carolinians affected by the health care system, made by our friends at the N.C. Health Access Coalition.
Confused about what the new health reform law does? Check out this great video by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Click here to view it on YouTube:
The materials and opinions expressed in the following links are not necessarily those of Action for Children North Carolina. Action for Children does not endorse specific organizations, events, individuals, curricula or best practices implementation.
The Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project (LAMHA) is a mixed-method, descriptive study of the mental health status and needs of immigrant youth and their families.
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