Title
National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families Grant (B)
This item involves a request to accept a grant, if awarded, from the National League of Cities (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education and Families (YEF Institute) to assist the City in Expanding Access to Health Care for Children and Families.
Explanation
In 2009, the Children Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) was signed into law by President Obama. This legislation launched a new era in Children’s health insurance coverage by providing states with significant new funding and a range of new opportunities for covering children eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The CHIP in conjunction with Title XXI of the Social Security Act funds the Florida KidCare Program.
The Florida KidCare Program provides low cost health Insurance for children under 19 years of age even if one or both parents are working. The program provides four different parts. When the individual applies for the Health Insurance, Florida KidCare will determine which part of the insurance coverage the child may quality for based upon age and family income. Despite the Florida KidCare program being available for families, in 2009 there was more than 600,000 uninsured kids in Florida. There were over 6,000 uninsured kids in Alachua County. The 2011 CHIRPA Annual Report indicated that there were still approximately 475,000 uninsured kids within the state. The State of Florida has made big strides to reduce the number of uninsured kids, however, Florida still ranked fourth in the nation behind Nevada, Texas, and Arizona with the highest rates of Uninsured Children.
Earlier this year, the City Of Gainesville (City) worked in cooperation with the Gainesville/Alachua County Office on Homelessness (OOH) to submit a pre-grant application to the National League of Cities (NLC) expressing an interest to increase access to health care for children and families i...
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