BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to the establishment of the kids get care pilot project; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Promoting the good health of children is a paramount interest of the state of Washington. Children with poor health are less likely to grow into productive adults. They are less able to function well in school. And, if they develop health problems that are often preventable, they are very expensive to care for and educate. The vast majority of children in Washington state are eligible for some health insurance, but many are difficult to enroll in these insurance programs because of many barriers. Uninsured children are less likely to have a usual source of care and get the preventive care needed to prevent serious illness. Also, many insured children do not receive the preventive services they need. It is the intent of the legislature to make all children eligible for preventive services and ensure they have appropriate preventive services. It is the further intent of the legislature to identify children who are without access to health care, develop systems to improve their access to preventive services, and examine ways to ensure that these children have access to acute and chronic care services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The kids get care pilot project is established in the department of health. The secretary of the department shall:

(1) Appoint a director of the kids get care pilot program. The director shall coordinate with the health care authority and the department of social and health services to develop administrative procedures and coordinated funding mechanisms to carry out the intent of this program. These agencies shall cooperate with the director to develop a program that is clear, straightforward and easily understandable to the families and providers involved;

(2) Identify five counties in different congressional districts in which to establish pilot projects;

(3) Develop a simple, uniform eligibility system that builds as much as possible on existing technology to enroll children in all public programs and identify children who are not eligible for any other health coverage or insurance. The eligibility system shall be available to all cooperating providers who care for children, social service agencies, and outreach organizations interested in enrolling children in health insurance;

(4) Identify providers in the pilot counties who are interested in caring for children and are willing to participate in this program. The goal shall be to find a medical home for all of the children in these communities and develop a system to ensure that children needing a medical home are referred to and accepted by participating providers;

(5) Develop funding for this pilot program from private sources and by maximizing public sources already appropriated. The funding shall be used to support staff developing and administering this program and to pay for the preventive services provided to the children who are not otherwise covered by existing private or public insurance;

(6) Develop a schedule of preventive services to which all children should have access. This schedule of preventive benefits shall be used to establish the basic services that the program will subsidize as outlined in subsection (7) of this section;

(7) Establish a sliding scale so that the preventive services funded under this program are partially subsidized for lower income families but remain affordable;

(8) Coordinate the pilot projects with local health departments to ensure that population-based information and outreach is used to maximize the efficiency of the outreach, enrollment, and delivery of preventive services;

(9) Develop outreach programs in all pilot sites that emphasize the public health messages of good health habits, appropriate screening, effective services, and the availability of these preventive services;

(10) Coordinate this outreach with local health departments, social service providers, health care providers, schools, religious institutions, and other interested parties in the communities; and

(11) Develop a system to measure the impact of this program on the health of the children in the pilot communities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The kids get care account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from private sources must be deposited in the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only to support the purposes of the kids get care project established by section 2 of this act. Only the secretary of the department of health or the secretary's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The secretary of the department of health shall report to the governor and the legislature on the effectiveness of the kids get care project by December 2001.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The sum of fifty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund to the department of health for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, to carry out the purposes of this act.