July 28--LAKEWOOD -- Children aren't the most likely candidates to celebrate trips to the doctor, but almost 100 little ones celebrated with Gov. Bill Ritter on Tuesday that at least they have that option.
Ritter visited Andres "Big Cat" Galarraga Field on the campus of the J. Churchill Owens Branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver to discuss the addition of 100,000 children to the ranks of the insured during his administration.
"You could fill Invesco Field. You could fill the Pepsi Center," with the children who've gained insurance during his administration, Ritter said. "And you'd still have kids standing outside." Ritter said expanding eligibility for Medicaid and cultivating Colorado's Child Health Plan Plus (dubbed CHP+) were instrumental in bringing insurance options to so many of the state's children."
The 2010 KIDS COUNT report on child well-being, which was released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, showed enrollment in CHP+ in Pueblo County grew steadily from 3 percent of the county's children in 2001 to 7.8 percent in 2007 and 10.1 percent in 2008.
Statewide, the percentage of children enrolled in CHP+ started at 2.9 percent in 2001, climbed to 6.6 percent in 2007 and stood at 8.6 percent in 2008.
Medicaid enrollment also has been slowly rising among the state's children: 24 percent in 2006, 25 percent in 2007 and 28 percent in 2008. And the percentage in Pueblo County is much greater: 44 percent in 2006, 46 percent in 2007 and 48 percent in 2008.
In Pueblo County in 2007, 20.8 percent of children (3,618) were eligible but not enrolled in Medicaid or CHP+. By 2008, just 13.6 percent (2,402) of eligible children hadn't enrolled. Statewide during the same span eligible but uninsured children stood at 23 percent (78,228) in 2007 and 29.4 percent (115,165) in 2008.
With threats from Congress to cut the share the federal government pays for Medicaid (which would raise states' contributions), Colorado lawmakers will be faced with a tough decision during the upcoming budgeting process.
Ritter said he is committed to sparing the programs that keep Colorado's kids healthy and able to see doctors, and he hopes the Legislature continues that commitment when it crafts the state budget for the fiscal year 2011-12 in his absence when he leaves office in January.
"In a downturn, everything is on the table," Ritter said.
But he said the state sustained pathways to medical care for children even during the recession to this point, and he hopes it will continue.
"We've been able to do that during a $3.5 billion deficit," he said. "This is something that we've made a priority."
Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, chairs the Joint Budget Committee, which holds the General Assembly's purse strings.
"Giving children access to health care is really high on our list of priorities," Ferrandino said. "One of the guiding principles is to protect the most vulnerable among us. During an economic downturn there are going to be more families that need this assistance, and preventing the problems that follow a lack of health care early on, it's good for the long-term fiscal stability of the state and the health of its citizens."
Ritter conceded that job loss among insured parents added to the Medicaid and CHP+ roles, but he said without expanded eligibility, they wouldn't have had the safety net they need.
"It's our obligation to do this especially during a difficult economic period. I don't know if anybody has the exact number" to quantify the role joblessness played in 100,000 Colorado children landing in the safety net. "But I know it's better today for those folks with this in place than it would be without it."
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