Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New
York Times
November 14, 1999, Sunday, Late Edition -
Final
SECTION: Section 14CN; Page
13; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk
LENGTH: 1079 words
HEADLINE:
Keeping Poor Children Healthy
BYLINE: By WHITNEY
JACOBS
BODY:
LAST July, Sarabeth Goslee gave
birth to her daughter Makiah. If not for a program provided by the state, Makiah
would not have had health insurance after her birth.
The program, Health Insurance for
Uninsured Kids and Youth, known as Husky, provides
health insurance for an estimated 20,000
uninsured children up to age 19. Some estimate there may be up
to 90,000 uninsured children in the state. The program is
financed through federal and state funding authorized by the 1997 Congress
through the Children's Health Insurance Program. It went into effect in
Connecticut in July 1, 1998.
"If it weren't for Husky," said Ms. Goslee,
19, of Danbury, "she wouldn't have health insurance. I knew before she was born
I wouldn't have the money to buy it to cover the new baby. That really worried
me."
Ms. Goslee, who now works as a receptionist, had heard of the Husky
program while still working at a data entry job that she knew she would have to
leave after giving birth.
The Husky medical-dental plans include the
traditional Medicaid program for children (known as Husky Part A), and health
services for children in higher-income families (called Husky Part B). The state
subsidized portion of the program has supplemental coverage for children with
intensive physical and behavioral health needs.
Unsubsidized policies
for children in families with high incomes are available at group rates. Federal
funds provide 65 percent reimbursement for payments of service under Husky.
Connecticut pays 35 percent.
Husky coverage is free for children in
families with incomes up to 185 percent of Connecticut's poverty level (about
$31,000 for a family of four). Above that, copayments and premiums may be
required. For most eligible families, with two or more children, the required
monthly premiums will top out at $50.
Joseph M. Gracia, a divorced
father from Lisbon in suburban Norwich, said the program became essential for
his son Shawn, who was born prematurely. Shawn, now 8, has severe asthma. Two
years ago, about the same time Mr. Gracia was laid off from his electrician's
job at Electric Boat in Groton, Shawn was recovering from a collapsed lung.
Shawn became one of the first Connecticut children signed up for Husky.
For roughly a year before that he had been stricken by almost monthly asthma
attacks. Each time this led to a hospital stay or trip to the emergency room
because his family lacked money for expensive home preventive care.
"Husky is fantastic," Mr. Gracia said. "For more than a year after Husky
made home care possible, Shawn has not had to go to the hospital for treatment
at all. His life is much better and he can go to school without interruption.
"Life is a lot happier for me, too, not having to worry about Shawn as I
did. Fortunately," Mr. Gracia added, "as it helped Shawn, Husky helped allow me
to go to Manchester Community College, which I do now, studying multimedia."
The State Department of Social Services, which administers Husky, began
varied outreach programs to spread word about the plan and spur enrollment.
The Children's Health Insurance Program, authorized under Title XXI of
the Social Security Act, had enabled individual states to implement their own
health insurance programs with a mix of federal and state funding. In 1997, the
federal government estimated there were 11 million children without health
insurance.
Connecticut had worked for years on its own to boost its
children's health insurance coverage. And after Husky began in 1998, the
national Children's Defense Fund rated Connecticut among the top four states for
children's health insurance services.
Early this year the Department of
Social Services and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of Princeton, N.J.,
announced that the foundation would contribute about $644,500 to Connecticut's
Husky outreach programs, which encourage not only enrollment to the program but
also spread word to providers (doctors, nurses, etc.). The Department of Social
Services already had state funds for $450,000 in outreach grants to towns or
private providers. This brought overall funding to $1.1 million for
outreach-related activities, such as working with schools, businesses and
organizations and playing host to picnics, fairs and trade shows.
The
third quarterly meeting for outreach providers was held Sept. 30 in Wallingford
by the Department of Social Services and a cosponsor of the program, the
Children's Health Council of Hartford. Some 60 people attended from across the
state. At that meeting a representative from the department said that about
1,000 new members are joining the program monthly.
At the same meeting,
Jillian G. Wood, executive director of the Connecticut Chapter of the American
Academy of Pediatrics, described a $48,000 federal grant the group recently
received so it can educate its members about Husky.
"Not every
pediatrician knows about the Husky program," Ms. Wood said. She added that in
addition to pediatricians, pediatric practice managers in the state will also be
an important group to be given Husky information through activities supported by
the grant. Pedriatic practice managers ordinarily provide detailed information
for their organizations about all health insurance related to their clients, she
noted.
"Things are going well generally with the Husky program," said
Michael P. Starkowski, deputy commissioner of the Department of Social Services
and the agency's chief Husky administrator. "Right now we are pretty much on
target. We have simplified the application process from 19 pages to 4 and done
other things to make Husky user-friendly."
Outreach workers in New
Haven, Danbury and Norwich expressed concern about access to dental care for
Husky children in some rural sections of Connecticut, where there are fewer
dentists.
Asked about the problems in dental care, Mr. Starkowski said
he and others from the Department of Social Services began meeting in October
with Peter J. Robinson, dean of the University of Connecticut School of Dental
Medicine in Farmington and with James C. Crall, head of the school's department
of pediatric dentistry, to see what can be done to improve dental care for Husky
children. The Connecticut State Dental Association and Yale University were also
represented at these meetings.
For more information about Husky or
an application, the toll-free number to call is (877) CT HUSKY. There is also a
Web site at www.huskyhealth.com. http://www.nytimes.com
LOAD-DATE: November 14, 1999 
