Enrollment Numbers for KidCare Rising
Stephen D. Price
Tallahassee Democrat
Nov 27, 2007
Florida KidCare enrollment numbers spiked in October, an increase officials attribute to an ongoing outreach campaign and additional dollars given by the Legislature.
In August, state officials announced a KidCare outreach campaign to reach 500,000 eligible children who aren't enrolled in the insurance program for working-class families.
"If you tell them, they will come," said Karen Woodall, a social-services lobbyist. "It's not rocket science."
In October, 17,497 more children were enrolled in KidCare, which serves 1.4 million children.
The design of the latest campaign was to reach more eligible children through affiliated state agencies — for example, the Department of Children and Family Services mailed 54,000 letters to families receiving state assistance, the Department of Health printed KidCare enrollment information on immunization fliers and Florida KidCare is working with schools to distribute applications.
"That's great," said Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, of the boost in KidCare enrollment. "We're getting the word out that KidCare is available."
During the spring regular legislative session, lawmakers approved spending an extra $18 million to increase KidCare enrollment by 33,000. When legislators met in September for a special session to debate budget cuts, they approved increasing money for KidCare by $1.1 million.
"It's kind of unprecedented that they added funds while cutting the budget," Woodall said. "They still have not removed a lot of the barriers that's preventing kids from re-enrolling."
Last spring, the House passed a bill that would've removed those barriers to help increase enrollment, but the Senate stalled the bill.