Arizona Legislature Considers Three Bills Aimed at Boosting KidsCare Enrollment

Arizona's state Legislature is currently considering a trio of bills designed to enroll more children in KidsCare, the state's Medicaid-expansion CHIP program, the Arizona Daily Star reports. Children from families earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level, or with annual incomes of less than $35,300, are eligible. Of the 300,000 eligible children in the state, KidsCare currently covers about 47,000. Children's advocates have pointed to a variety of "impediments" hampering enrollment efforts, including a ban on outreach efforts in schools and a provision that requires children to go six months without health coverage before becoming eligible for KidsCare. But last week, a House committee passed SB 1087, which would eliminate the restriction barring schools from contracting for KidsCare outreach efforts. The measure also would lift a cap on mental health services that limits KidsCare enrollees to 30 days of inpatient care and 30 days of outpatient care per year. The state Department of Health Services said that the plan would not cost the state any additional money. The bill, which is being backed by hospitals and the state Mental Health Association, was already passed by the Senate and now awaits a full House vote. The Senate also has passed two other bills, SB 1074 and SB 1075, designed to boost KidsCare enrollment. SB 1074 would eliminate the six-month coverage gap requirement, which many consider "the predominant reason more kids aren't signed up" in the program. SB 1075 would allow the state to consider making "hardship" exemptions for families who cannot afford to pay the program's monthly premiums, which are calculated on an income-based sliding scale. Both SB 1074 and SB 1075 have been assigned to the House Appropriations Committee, where they have not yet been scheduled for a hearing (Sander, Arizona Daily Star, 4/8).