Life Insurance

TOPEKA - A coalition of Kansas health advocates called Wednesday for more federal funding of the 10-year-old child health insurance program, which is set to expire this fall.

"If they do not provide sufficient funding for the program many children, including children here in our Kansas communities, who desperately need health insurance will remain uninsured," said Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger at a press conference.

But federal funding hasn't increased since the program's inception a decade ago. As medical costs steadily rise, Kansas' version of the child insurance program, known as HealthWave, stands to fall short by $6.6 million next year.

Funded 70 percent by federal dollars and 30 percent by the state, HealthWave covers children whose families can't afford private insurance but don't qualify for Medicaid.

"Without increased support, thousands of Kansas children's health will be jeopardized," Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Coalition members say more working families face unaffordable private insurance costs, which discourages them from seeking preventive health care.

"Our position has always been that we want to make sure families have insurance," said Maren Turner, executive director of AARP Kansas. "It takes a village and AARP members are part of that village."

Advocates expect the backing of Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, an influential member of the Senate Finance Committee working on the re-authorization bill.

While the senator has pledged his support, he said he doesn't favor raising the program's income level to make more children eligible until the state has succeeded in enrolling all children who are now eligible.

HealthWave currently accepts children in families who earn up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of three, that's about $32,000 in annual income.

The enrollment campaign over the past decade has helped Kansas officials also discover and enroll many children poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.

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