Editorial: Children's health care is essential

In August 1997, when President Clinton signed into law a program to help get insurance coverage for children of lower-income families, it was expected that as many as 5 million would sign up for the federally funded program run by the states. Those initial estimates have fallen short of what was expected, though, with just 2 million enrolled so far. Nevada is no exception when it comes to difficulty in meeting the projections. As of Sept. 30, the federal government reported that Nevada had enrolled 7,802 children. That figure is far less than the earlier estimates that between 45,000 to 60,000 children in Nevada would take advantage of the program, which allows families to buy low-cost health insurance policies for their children.

Still, the fact is that nationwide there are nearly 2 million children now covered who weren't previously, an important accomplishment. Meanwhile, Clinton wants to take additional steps to get more children enrolled. Last week the president announced that he would ask Congress for $2.7 billion over the next five years to finance more aggressive outreach programs, such as finding and enrolling children through local schools. In addition, states could allow child care centers, homeless shelters and other eligible facilities to provide immediate coverage to children from low-income children while their applications are pending. The Clinton administration also wants all states to make applications more simplified for both the Medicaid and the children's health insurance programs.

Since there has been so much difficulty in getting enough children enrolled -- that probably should have been expected considering how ambitious the plan was -- that means the states haven't used as much money as had been allocated. So some Republican members of Congress have been eyeing the unused funds in the health insurance program, hoping to spend it on other projects. But that would be a mistake. Congress should keep the funding intact and pass Clinton's recommendations to give this crucial program a chance to succeed. No child should have to go without medical care simply because his parents can't afford health insurance coverage.

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