Initiative goal: healthier children

Jamie Newman of Columbia Falls actually has people so eager to sign her Initiative 155 petition that they grab her orange clipboard right out of her hands.

"People feel helpless when it comes to health insurance," she said. "They're grateful someone is doing something."

Newman jumped at the opportunity to get involved with Healthy Montana Kids I-155, an initiative aimed at providing insurance for 30,000 uninsured children. She serves as a field organizer for a statewide organization working to place the initiative on the November ballot.

"I'm getting a great reception," she said. "I feel this is a perfect opportunity to decide where tax revenue is going to be spent."

If it reaches the ballot and is passed by voters, I-155 would expand eligibility for the Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid by tapping one-third of a tax that insurance companies now pay on premiums collected in Montana.

Estimated at $22 million, this tax reserve would leverage about $75 million in federal matching money. Supporters say the initiative won't raise taxes or create a new government bureaucracy. It makes existing programs more effective.

Newman, the mother of a 9-year-old, said her heart breaks listening to people financially broken after seeking medical care for their children without insurance.

"You go out there and you hear horror stories," she said. "That's why John [Morrison] is so passionate about this."

Morrison, Montana's state auditor, started the movement for I-155. He said it's a product of asking "what can be done" instead of "endlessly discussing philosophy."

"I've been working on health coverage issues since I became state auditor in 2001," he said.

Morrison's plan for children follows a successful initiative he led to create Insure Montana, a program that uses tax credits and pooling to make health insurance more affordable for small businesses.

As a result, about 10,000 Montanans, including many children, received coverage through small employer health policies.

"We have many more waiting in line - it could go to 20,000," Morrison said.

On the heels of that success, he turned his attention to the 30,000 children without coverage in Montana. Morrison said the number of uninsured children living in poverty here has grown from 19 percent to 29 percent in the last five years as the rate has decreased around the nation.

"That tells us we're out of step with the rest of the country" he said.

Statistics show that uninsured children are 70 percent less likely to receive care for common conditions such as ear infections and 30 percent less likely to receive medical care when injured.

According to information from Healthy Montana Kids, uninsured children hospitalized for injuries are twice as likely to die as insured children. Overall, insurance reduces childhood deaths by 10 to 15 percent.

Morrison said three factors account for Montana's growing number of uninsured children:

. The number people working for small businesses.

. Low income ceilings for qualifying for CHIP and Medicaid.

. A failure to enroll all children eligible for these programs.

"Half of those 30,000 kids are already eligible," he said. "We're not doing a good enough job signing up Montana kids."

Morrison designed Healthy Montana Kids as a "new storefront" to simply the process and remove some stigma by issuing one card for both CHIP and Medicaid.

Major components of I-155 include:

. Offering premium assistance to eligible parents who add children as dependents to their employer-sponsored plan.

. Expanding eligibility for CHIP to families with an income of not more than 250 percent of the federal poverty line, about $50,000 per year for a family of four, compared to the current 175 percent.

. Establish a floating Medicaid eligibility of 185 percent of the federal poverty level that could drop if necessary to maximize federal dollars. This compares to the current 133 percent eligibility for children and as low as 100 percent of the poverty level for teenagers.

. Using enrollment partners to sign up eligible children.

Morrison said that I-155 switches from a passive program of using brochures and advertising to locate eligible youngsters to active outreach through enrollment partners such as hospitals, clinics, schools and YMCAs.

"We go where the uninsured child hits the system, collect the information, transmit it to the Department of Public Health and Human Services and sign them up," he said.

According to Morrison, the benefits of the program include bringing $75 million in new federal matching funds which then circulate in Montana. He said economists estimate that money will create $9 million in new state tax receipts, offsetting the $22 million state cost of the program.

The state auditor said reserving one-third of insurance premium taxes for the Healthy Montana Kids plan won't take money from another program.

"We have a $500 million surplus this year," he said.

Morrison said tax receipts indicate the state will accumulate a surplus well in excess of the $125 million projected for next year. Deducting $8 million to $9 million in newly generated tax revenue reduces the program cost to $13 million or $14 million.

"It's a fairly small percentage of the state surplus," Morrison said. "Nobody has come out against it yet."

He said surveys have shown that more than 70 percent of Montanans support the concepts in I-155. Morrison, like Newman, has had positive responses while out collecting signatures.

"Eighty to 90 percent of the people I approach are eager to sign," he said.

However, Morrison, Newman and other field organizers around Montana face an uphill battle to collect 22,308 signatures of registered voters in increments of five percent in 34 legislative districts by June 20.

"It's a challenge," Morrison admitted.

Newman has 25 people out collecting signatures around the Flathead. She said they will be at all public events, such as the whitewater festival in Bigfork, between now and the June deadline.

"Look for the orange clipboards," Newman said. "We're able to register people to vote as well."

She began in late March, going to malls, coffee shops and events such as The Summit's 5-kilometer run. Recent law changes make it necessary that the person circulating the petition witness each registered voter signature.

"You can't just leave it on the Conoco counter anymore," Newman said.

People interested in helping or finding a petition to sign may contact Newman at (406) 314-2318. For additional information, consult the Web site at www.healthymontanakids.org.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.