October - Alabama Called National Leader in Children's Health Care

October 29, 2009

With all the discussions, debates, and controversies surrounding the national health care debate in Washington, I felt that it would be timely to bring to my constituent’s attention what Alabama taxpayers are doing in order to help Alabama obtain leadership recognition in children’s healthcare.  The Alabama Legislature in the 2009 session voted to expand its children’s healthcare insurance program by picking up an additional 14,000 children in the state program which is referred to as All Kids.  With the additional 14,000 children now enrolled, we have a cumulative number of in excess of 69,000 Alabama children receiving health insurance coverage which previously they were totally without. Alabama has been a national leader in this effort for many years now as we were the first state in the nation to offer the Children's Health Insurance Program.

At the present, the All Kids program serves families at 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Our expansion will now cover a family of four at 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, which is a gross income limit of $66,156.  This program is directly of assistance to many children of Alabama’s working families and its benefits are extremely meaningful in these days of a struggling economy.  All Kids programs help families whose income is too high to qualify for certain federal aid programs but to low to afford basic health insurance.  Many Alabama workers work for companies that do not provide health insurance; consequently their children likewise have no insurance coverage.

With the All Kids program, children under 19 are offered regular checkups, doctor visits, prescriptions, dental and vision, hospital and physician services.  Costs are low with small co-pays.  There are no co-pays for preventive services.  No child can be turned down because of pre-existing conditions.

The All Kids program is not free.  Parents who get into the program because of the expansion will pay $100 annually per child, with a maximum of $300 per family with children.

It wasn't easy finding the money to fund this expansion, but I believe in tough economic times leadership requires the setting of priorities and the funding of priorities.  It is in tough times that you learn what is really important, and helping the children of working families is the right thing to do, the right thing to do for these families, the right thing to do for Alabama and the right thing to do for our quality of life. A $7 million state match to $24 million in federal funds will pay for the expansion.

This funding to expand All Kids started this past October 1st.  Those parents who meet the income qualification for All Kids and want to enroll their children in the program can apply with the Alabama Department of Public Health by calling their toll-free number at 888-373-5437, or by applying at their web site, www.adph.org.  Applications are also available at local county health departments.

On a related matter, the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention has recently issued a preliminary update for Lee, Russell, and Tallapoosa counties of project funding from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA).  This preliminary funding provides in excess of $250,000 for my senate district and is awarded to various child advocacy and crisis centers.  Alabama taxpayers can feel very good about the support that they are giving through their tax dollars for Alabama’s children, those economically deprived that are the subject of child abuse and neglect.