Health care coverage for state's children expanding

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| ANDY BRONSON | THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Instead, Casad and her husband were able to pay $30 each month to get health care for their two girls - Cali, 8, and Keira, 5 - through the public program created by the 2007 passage of the state's Cover All Kids law.

The measure expanded the number of children who qualified for health care assistance. There are no co-pays and no deductibles in the program. Children receive comprehensive medical, dental, vision and mental health coverage for free or at a low cost.

"It's meant for people who don't really have a good option out there," said Ruth Schubert, communications manager for Children's Alliance, which advocates for children and families in Washington state.

The alliance worked on the law's passage. Schubert said it's geared toward those who can't afford to cover their children through their employer's insurance or through private insurance.

Administrators of the program, as well as advocates for children and health care access, are once again trying to encourage families to check to see if they qualify. Outreach efforts included an educational bus tour in August and September that stopped in Bellingham.

Current enrollment efforts in Whatcom County are focusing on the self-employed, small-business employees and the middle class.

Those are the people who often don't realize they can turn to the state for help or may have an aversion to going on a public program, according to Wendy Carr, access coordinator for Whatcom Alliance for Healthcare Access. The organization screens applicants for the program.

Carr noted that the program may be especially needed now by families squeezed between increasing costs for food and gasoline and a softening job market.

"Budgets only give so much," Carr said. "This makes a great transitional program."

An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 children in Whatcom County have no medical insurance, according to Carr.

Under Apple Health for Kids, children in families up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level - or with annual incomes of about $53,000 for a family of four - can qualify.

Those below 200 percent receive free coverage. Above that, up to 250 percent, monthly premiums cost $15 per child with a cap of $45 no matter how many children are covered.

Come Jan. 1, enrollment will open to families up to 300 percent of the poverty level, or $63,600 for a family of four. The premium per child is still being worked out, Schubert said.

About 73,000 children in the state had no health insurance before the law was passed. The state has enrolled more than 15,600 children since the law went into effect on July 1, 2007, according to Schubert.

The plan to add more families to the program comes as the state grapples with a looming budget deficit.

"There's some nervousness about that," Schubert said.

But she believes that legislative support remains for the program.

"We are going to be in there advocating for that money to be put in the budget."

As for Casad, she's relieved that the program has been able to provide medical care for her girls, even as both parents go without health insurance. Casad is an administrative assistant and kickboxing instructor. Her husband works in construction. Both work for businesses that can't afford to provide health insurance for their employees, she explained.

"We just pay out of pocket as needed," said Casad, adding that not having health care is a middle-class dilemma.

But at least their girls are covered. So Keira was able to get the surgery she needed and Cali could get treatment for her allergies without breaking the family's finances.

"Being a middle-income family, you really don't have tons of extra money," Casad said.

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