12-22-2008, 05:25 PM
Well, when you consider the area in which this is happening, I'm not terribly surprised. After a natural disaster, like Hurricane Ike, how many of those low income families whose children qualify for Medicaide were actually able to return to their homes and pick up with life as usual? You'll note letters reminding the parents to re-enroll the children were sent to the address of record. I'd be willing to bet many of those addresses are no longer valid, and that many people simply didn't understand the coverage would end unless they went through the paperwork again. I'm sure there are cases in which parents are simply not being responsible and following through, but I also suspect a large number have just fallen through the cracks because of the way the system is designed to operate.
Around here, most of the school districts have a mechanism through which children enrolled in free and reduced lunch programs are contacted about Medicaide eligibility. Some still slip by if the children aren't yet old enough for school, but, overall, they do a pretty good job of snagging most of them. The issue of using emergency rooms for non-emergency health care is a different issue, and that one is still problematic.
Around here, most of the school districts have a mechanism through which children enrolled in free and reduced lunch programs are contacted about Medicaide eligibility. Some still slip by if the children aren't yet old enough for school, but, overall, they do a pretty good job of snagging most of them. The issue of using emergency rooms for non-emergency health care is a different issue, and that one is still problematic.