State program loses Hawaii has lost more than $14 million in federal funds that could have been used to help find and insure an estimated 8,000 to 14,000 island children without medical insurance, say program officials.
$14 million in
federal funds
The state didn't provide the
required matching moneyBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com
"Some of the money we're turning away can be used for marketing, outreach and enrollment activities to get the message out and link families with the program," said Barbara Luksch, director of Hawaii Covering Kids, a project to enroll children in free health insurance programs.
Funds allocated to Hawaii for the national Children's Health Insurance Program from 1998 to 2000 reverted to the federal treasury Oct. 1 because the state didn't provide matching money, said Mary Rydell, regional director for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
They included $739,000 for 1998, $3.7 million for 1999 and a little more than $10 million for 2000, she said.
Hawaii's 2001 allotment of $11.6 million will expire Sept. 30, 2003, and a 2002 allotment of $9.4 million will run out Sept. 30, 2004, if it isn't matched, Rydell said.
For every 30 percent spent by the state, the federal government pays 70 percent under the Children's Health Insurance Program.
"We lost that money ($14 million), and we're on target to lose some more if we don't expand our program and figure out a way to spend it," said Beth Giesting, Hawaii State Primary Care Association executive director.
The association operates statewide community health centers for medically needy residents. It also manages Hawaii Covering Kids, funded with a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, to create a process to enroll children up to age 19 in free health insurance programs.
"It's a circular domino effect, that we need to get the message out to get kids enrolled to utilize the funds," Luksch said.
Families aren't applying for the free insurance because they don't know kids are eligible, she said. Outreach workers on Kauai told her that parents "thought it was welfare and didn't know MedQUEST won't count their assets for children."
But the biggest problem, she said, "is we haven't invested anything in CHIP as far as I know other than what the Legislature and governor agreed would come out of the tobacco fund."
Pearl Tsuji, MedQUEST program specialist, said up to 10 percent of the state's total tobacco settlement fund (administered by the state Health Department) can be used for the children's insurance programs.
She said $4 million was spent in the last fiscal year and a minimum of about $5 million is authorized this fiscal year.
Twenty-three other states also had unused CHIP allocations, with a total of $1.2 billion going back to the federal government Oct. 1.
Many of the children found by Hawaii Covering Kids were eligible for Medicaid, which has a lower federal match than CHIP.
The MedQUEST poverty line is 100 percent of the federal poverty level. Families with income up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for CHIP, so a four-member family earning $3,470 a month would qualify.
For more information about the state's free health insurance programs, call 211, the Aloha United Way hotline, toll-free from any island 24 hours a day. Information also is available at: www.coveringkids.com.
State of Hawaii