Free Health Insurance Program Needs Kids Health Services Trying To Reach Eligible Families To Participate

Two state insurance giants are trying to help the littlest Idahoans, offering free - yes, free - health plans for children.

But right now, Blue Cross of Idaho and MSB/Blue Shield of Idaho have only about 500 kids covered by their plan. That’s half as many as the Caring Program for Children can handle.

“The feeling I get from some families is that it’s too good to be true,” said DeNene Banger, child health services coordinator with Panhandle Health here. “But in fact, it’s as good as it looks.”

More often, people who are eligible don’t even know about the offer - fliers in schools and clinics are the main form of advertisement.

The program was founded in 1994, but never took off like its architects hoped. “This program has been very under-used,” said Terence Neff, a pediatrician here and a Blue Shield board member. The program was almost yanked last year because of it.

“The money’s sitting there,” Neff said. “We just have to get people to apply for it.”

Of the estimated 150,000 Idaho residents without health insurance, more than half are kids.

Children are eligible if they can’t receive Medicaid, but come from families that don’t pull in enough money to pay for medical insurance. “The people who fell in between the cracks,” Neff said.

An eligible two-person family is one making between $13,340 to $15,045 per year. An eligible three-person family could make between $16,745 to $18,885.

“I’m surprised people aren’t lining up for it … I personally introduce people to it at least once a day,” Neff said.

There are no premium payments. Why wouldn’t people want the deal? The plan pays for 70 percent of the client’s medical bills. The family pays for 30 percent.

“Some families don’t feel they can afford it,” said one Panhandle Health District nurse. “They just don’t have enough money to cover the amount that’s left to pay.”

In Bonners Ferry, patients have only picked up a few fliers there in the last couple of years, said Panhandle Health District nurse Kathy Harden. By the time people come to her, they need immediate medical care, she said. It’s too late for insurance.

Response would be better if the state referred families turned down for Medicaid to the plan, Harden said. “That would help.”

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare does refer a few to the program, said Self-Reliance Program Manager Steve McKenna.

But they could do much more of it, said McKenna, who manages the Medicaid offices in North Idaho.

McKenna didn’t realize the free-insurance program had so many openings.

“We would not be opposed to being more of an advertiser for it,” he said.

The problem is not confined to Idaho.

Similar programs in 22 other states also are under-used, said Laura Ryan, a spokeswoman for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, based in Chicago.

“Surprisingly, there are slots available across the country in these programs.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COVERAGE FOR CHILDREN For more information, call Blue Cross of Idaho at 1-800-365-2345 or MSB/Blue Shield at 1-800-632-2022.