Nancy Hicks, Lincoln Journal Star
April 2, 2009

When 3-year-old Braedon Parker gets a high fever or an earache, his mom doesn’t have to weigh her options.

Should she take him to the doctor and struggle to pay off the bill over the next few months?

Should she wait and see how he’s doing in a few days because she really doesn’t have the money for the doctor?

Penny Parker can call her pediatrician when Braedon is sick because her son gets medical insurance she can’t personally afford through the state’s Kids Connection program.

Braedon is among more than 25,000 children covered through the state and federally funded Kids Connection and Medicaid programs.

Another 5,400 children will join the ranks of the insured under a bill (LB136), sponsored by Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery and supported by a broad coalition of Nebraska-based groups.

That bill gained first-round approval Thursday afternoon. It is part of a package of bills that grew out of the safe haven problems when a number of families dropped teenagers off at hospitals in order to get better mental health care.

Currently, children in families with incomes up to 185 percent of the poverty level — $40,792 for a family of three — qualify. The bill would raise the income limit to 200 percent of poverty level, or $44,100 for a family of four.

Nebraska’s hasn’t raised its income guidelines since the program started a decade ago. Forty-three states do better, providing the program to families with incomes at 200 percent of poverty or higher, Avery pointed out during debate on the bill Thursday. “Even Mississippi does better than we do.”

The federal government pays about 72 percent of the costs of the program. The expansion will cost state taxpayers about $6 million over the next two years.

About 60 percent of the uninsured children in the state are from families with income at 200 percent of the federal poverty level or lower, he said.

“These are families doing things the right way, working hard, playing by the rules and doing what they can to get ahead,” said Omaha Sen. Jeremy Nordquist.

For many low-income families, the $400 to $500 monthly health insurance premium is not affordable, according to information provided by Voices for Children, a Nebraska advocacy group.

And if they can afford it, health insurance costs rank fourth in monthly costs, right behind child care, rent or mortgage payments and food.

Uninsured children are four times more likely to end up in the emergency room with conditions that could have been avoided if they had seen a doctor, said Lincoln Sen. Kathy Campbell.

Some senators questioned the expansion. “A family with that income ($44,100 for a family of four) ought to be able to afford their own health insurance,” said Lincoln Sen. Tony Fulton.

Parker is in college full time and works almost full time, about 30 hours a week at the Kearney United Way. But her employer doesn’t offer health insurance. So she has no insurance for herself right now.

She’s graduating this spring, and hopes to land a job that offers health insurance and pays her enough so she can afford it. Until then, she’s grateful that she doesn’t have to worry about Braedon’s health care.