Budget cuts dilute children's health coverage USA Today
The struggles in the states may offer a lesson for the broader insurance expansion projected under a new health care law, designed to cover 32 million more people over 10 years.
"State budget situations are so terrible that it's not been possible for most states to do things that are positive in terms of enrollment or outreach," says Vernon Smith of Health Management Associates, a former Medicaid director in Michigan who conducts surveys of the states.
The program was created in 1997 by President Clinton and a Republican-controlled Congress to help children from families not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. In 13 years, it has grown to cover about 5 million children and 300,000 adults per month, with about 70% federal funds and 30% state funds.
The renewal of the program by Obama and a Democratic Congress called for the largest expansion since 2002. The Congressional Budget Office estimated 4.1 million children would be added by 2013 who otherwise would be uninsured, mostly by improving outreach.
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