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Help is on the Way for Uninsured Children
Syracuse Post Standard
April 26, 2008
Some of Onondaga County's estimated 7,500 uninsured children will be able to get immediate Medicaid coverage under a program being launched next week by the Syracuse Community Health Center.The center is participating in a new federal program that allows it to temporarily enroll children in Medicaid before their families complete an application and the county approve it. The approval process normally keeps families waiting more than a month.
Under the new program, children will get 45 days of Medicaid coverage if they appear to be eligible based on income information their parents or guardians provide in an interview. "Our goal is not to do it today, but do it yesterday", said Carol Jones, patient access manager at the center. The process is similar to one already available to pregnant women. Medicaid is a federal-state program that helps pay for the health care for the needy, aged, blind, disabled and low-income families with children. The simplified enrollment program is being rolled out during national "Cover the Uninsured" week. The state estimate 50,000 people, 15 percent of them children, are without coverage in Onondaga County. The center is teaming up next week with the Syracuse City School District, P.E.A.C.E. Inc., Dunbar Association, Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility, the Syracuse Housing Authority and the Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse to make the uninsured aware of available government health insurance programs. "The thrust is to reach out and touch as many of those people as possible and get them some means of insurance, said Dr. Ruben Cowart, the health center's president and CEO. A recent study estimates that as many as 41 percent of the uninsured in New York are eligible for government insurance programs but are unaware of them or unwilling to apply. "For a lot of these people, their No. 1 priority is putting food on the table for their kids at night," said Angela Zeppetello, a senior vice president of Total Care, a division of the Syracuse Community Health Center that operates a Medicaid managed care plan. "Health insurance doesn't become a priority until one of their kids gets sick. New York state is only allowing federally qualified health centers like the Syracuse Community Health Center to use the new simplified Medicaid enrollment process. That's because these centers offer a comprehensive range of health services and care for many people who are uninsured.
The application process sometimes discourages people from applying for Medicaid, Zeppetello said. They are asked to produce an original birth certificate Social Security card, four pay stubs, bank account information, proof of residence and other information. "How many people will walk in and have all that stuff in their pocket?" she said. Under the new enrollment process, if a child is deemed eligible, the parent or guardian will be given 15 days to submit all the necessary documentation to complete the application. That application then goes on to the Onondaga County department of Social service for review. If the application is rejected, the child's coverage would end after 45 days and the family would not be allowed to apply again using the streamlined process for another 12 months. The health center would be reimbursed by Medicaid for any services provided during the 45 day period, Zepetello said.
