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sam, quite simply because it is part of the parents rights and responsibility to ensure the health, safety, and overall welfare of their children.
You cannot 'force' parents to do anything *for* their children without legally taking away those rights. It's a slippery slope, and America has been slipping down it. It starts with jailing parents who 'dare' to spank their children in public. It ends with The State not allowing parents to raise their children, and instead raising them in some sort of centralized creche facility (think orphanage).
Now- make it easier for parents to sign up for something like this, or automatically sign up kids based on available information (there is a child, the parent has x income per the IRS, etc..), or set up a directed communication campaign- Sure !
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It isn't a matter of "forcing" the parents to do anything...but for example all over the radio, newsprint and mailings are alerting seniors they can change or enroll in Part D of Medicare. I wonder if there was a concerted campaign to do this for children/Medicaide.
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Oh, my apologies. No, no concerted campaign. I'd think that targeted mailings would work better. You know- WIC and Foodstamp recipients, healthcare workers, etc.
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These "kid care" health insurance programs are not necessarily free. Most do have a premium payment and co-pays. Parents are finding out that if they opt out, they can still take their kids to the hospital for free medical care (sniffles, ear aches, sore throat and other minor stuff that should be handled in a doctors office or clinic.)
Just hope and pray you never need emergency hospital care. Chances are you'll sit in the hallway for hours while the doctors treat little Jacks and Jills running a fever. Last time I needed emergency care (broken shoulder) I waited 2 hours surrounded by crying babies and whining pre-teens. Three of the parents spoke no English and couldn't fill out the forms or communicate with the doctors ergo prolonging the wait and tying up staff.
Now here's the kicker. As we drove to the drug store to get a pain meds prescription filled we drove right by the County health clinic. Not a car in sight. My guess is because the County charges a flat $20 co-pay for a visit as opposed to "free" Medicaid at the hospital.
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At our local suburban hospital, we sit and wait in the ER for two hours even when it appears empty. Go figure.
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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.
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Hi everyone,
Something else to consider... How many of these parents receive healthcare coverage for themselves and their children elsewhere and no longer quality and/or need medicaid?
Robert
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"Three of the parents spoke no English and couldn't fill out the forms or communicate with the doctors ergo prolonging the wait and tying up staff."
There you have it. The reason for the emergency room crisis across America.
