Martha Stoddard, Omaha World Herald
March 26, 2009

LINCOLN - Bills to make more low-income children eligible for health insurance and to obtain Medicaid funding for more community mental health services advanced Wednesday to the full Legislature.

The Health and Human Services Committee changed both bills to reduce their cost before voting them out without dissent.

Legislative Bill 136, introduced by Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln, would expand eligibility for the Kids Connection program to children in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The current cap is 185 percent of the poverty level.

LB 601, introduced by Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha, would require the state to seek federal Medicaid dollars for additional community mental health services.

The committee limited the services to ones that are now paid for entirely by the state. Medicaid uses a mix of federal and state dollars, so the result would be a savings to the state.

The measures are part of a five-bill package aimed at responding to the needs of troubled children and their families.

Those needs were exposed when parents and guardians dropped off 36 youngsters last fall under the state's former safe haven law. Most were teenagers or preteens with mental, emotional or behavioral problems.

The other three bills in the package would create a state crisis hot line, expand mental health services for children and address the shortage of behavioral health professionals in the state. All three have received first-round approval.