This Washington
Early-Afternoon Jolt: Kids' Health Care Spared Cuts
Despite all the harsh cuts in the budget, there is some good news for children, specifically undocumented children. Jolt feels compelled to weigh in early today with a winner: The 2,600 kids who would have been kicked off the state's children's health care program.
[pullquote]The state senate's original budget proposal capped coverage for undocumented children, which would have forced about 10 percent of the 26,000 undocumented kids currently being covered—to go without health care.[/pullquote] This would have saved the state about $6 million, but it would have negated Apple Health for Kids' statutory commitment to cover all eligible kids. (Apple Health for Kids is available to families making up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, about $55,000 for a family of three, with those making above 200 percent, $37,000 for a family of three, paying premiums.)
The more liberal house budget kept the undocumented kids covered by bumping up their premium—from the standard $20-$30 a month per child per month to a special $80-$90 rate for undocumented kids.
The budget that passed the legislature yesterday went with the house version, keeping those 2,600 kids covered. It also added an important footnote: While the state can go with the special, higher premium for undocumented kids above 200 percent of the poverty level, it doesn't have to—and can revert to the standard charges.
The final budget also ignored three other aspects of the harsher senate proposal. The senate wanted to start charging the premium for kids in families making 150 percent of the federal poverty level, about $27,795. [pullquote]This would have added fees for about 123,000 kids and most likely forced many of those families to drop out.[/pullquote] The senate also wanted to raise the premiums for those making above 200 percent. Finally, the senate wanted to charge a birth fee of $200-$300 for every child born to Apple Health for Kids recipients making above 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
The house prevailed, and none of those changes went into effect. House budget chair Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) tells PubliCola he had an advantage over the senate-side negotiators (Democratic Sen. Ed Murray and Republican Sen. Joe Zarelli) because with a solid Democratic majority to back him up he was "blessed with a unified caucus" while the bipartisan duo from the senate "had an uneasy truce" on many issues. (Conservative Democrats in the senate aligned with the GOP to weaken the supposed Democratic majority, and—as their original children's health care bill demonstrated—they demanded things such as caps on entitlement programs.)
"I could come into negotiations and say, 'here's what I need in order to get the votes for a budget, and health care for kids was important to my caucus."
Hunter says he understood the senate position of "trying to get rid of commitments and entitlements," adding, "it's not an unreasonable position when you're budgeting, but when you do that you have to prioritize a small number of commitments. K-12 education is the big one. And health care for children is one of those priorities." Hunter also points out that covering undocumented kids was only about a $5 million spend.
"Are you going to say 'yes' to a kid who was born here and 'no' to their older brother who was not? This is America. We educate them and we take care of them. It's not their fault they weren't born here. If you're going to prioritize, kids count."
It's also worth pointing out that Gov. Chris Gregoire's original proposal cut all 26,000 undocumented kids from state health care coverage.
[pullquote]The state senate's original budget proposal capped coverage for undocumented children, which would have forced about 10 percent of the 26,000 undocumented kids currently being covered—to go without health care.[/pullquote] This would have saved the state about $6 million, but it would have negated Apple Health for Kids' statutory commitment to cover all eligible kids. (Apple Health for Kids is available to families making up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, about $55,000 for a family of three, with those making above 200 percent, $37,000 for a family of three, paying premiums.)
The more liberal house budget kept the undocumented kids covered by bumping up their premium—from the standard $20-$30 a month per child per month to a special $80-$90 rate for undocumented kids.
The budget that passed the legislature yesterday went with the house version, keeping those 2,600 kids covered. It also added an important footnote: While the state can go with the special, higher premium for undocumented kids above 200 percent of the poverty level, it doesn't have to—and can revert to the standard charges.
The final budget also ignored three other aspects of the harsher senate proposal. The senate wanted to start charging the premium for kids in families making 150 percent of the federal poverty level, about $27,795. [pullquote]This would have added fees for about 123,000 kids and most likely forced many of those families to drop out.[/pullquote] The senate also wanted to raise the premiums for those making above 200 percent. Finally, the senate wanted to charge a birth fee of $200-$300 for every child born to Apple Health for Kids recipients making above 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
The house prevailed, and none of those changes went into effect. House budget chair Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) tells PubliCola he had an advantage over the senate-side negotiators (Democratic Sen. Ed Murray and Republican Sen. Joe Zarelli) because with a solid Democratic majority to back him up he was "blessed with a unified caucus" while the bipartisan duo from the senate "had an uneasy truce" on many issues. (Conservative Democrats in the senate aligned with the GOP to weaken the supposed Democratic majority, and—as their original children's health care bill demonstrated—they demanded things such as caps on entitlement programs.)
"I could come into negotiations and say, 'here's what I need in order to get the votes for a budget, and health care for kids was important to my caucus."
Hunter says he understood the senate position of "trying to get rid of commitments and entitlements," adding, "it's not an unreasonable position when you're budgeting, but when you do that you have to prioritize a small number of commitments. K-12 education is the big one. And health care for children is one of those priorities." Hunter also points out that covering undocumented kids was only about a $5 million spend.
"Are you going to say 'yes' to a kid who was born here and 'no' to their older brother who was not? This is America. We educate them and we take care of them. It's not their fault they weren't born here. If you're going to prioritize, kids count."
It's also worth pointing out that Gov. Chris Gregoire's original proposal cut all 26,000 undocumented kids from state health care coverage.
