Law to extend insurance signed

Sarah Rector used to worry how to pay for her 7-year-old son Jeremy's asthma medicine because she couldn't afford health insurance.

When Jeremy got sick or injured, Rector had no option but to take him to the emergency room and pay for the treatments out of her pocket.

In 1998, Rector received help when a program called MC+ for Kids in Missouri was established to provide health insurance for children up to age 19 whose families couldn't afford or didn't have private insurance.

The program was scheduled to expire July 1, but Gov. Bob Holden signed a measure Wednesday at Southeast Missouri Hospital that will extend the program five more years.

It is now set to expire July 1, 2007.

The extension means about 75,000 children who have enrolled in the program over the past five years will be able to continue to reap the benefits of regular doctor visits and preventative treatments.

Emergency visits for children have dropped 14 percent, asthma visits fell 21 percent and preventable hospitalizations have declined nearly 38 percent since the program began, Holden said.

Results called amazing

"The results have been amazing," he said. "Only five other states in the entire country provide the quality of care for uninsured children that Missouri does. Before MC+ for Kids began, Missouri ranked 27th for covering the uninsured. Today we are seventh."

Jim Wente, administrator for Southeast Missouri Hospital, said the program is used by thousands of children in Southeast Missouri, including 38 percent of the children in Cape Girardeau County, 37 percent of the children in Bollinger County, 26 percent in Perry County and 46 percent in Scott County.

"I'm very pleased to see the state extending the life of this program," Wente said. "It has made a great difference in health care for children."

Children who take advantage of the MC+ for Kids program are able to receive medical care from hundreds doctors and hospitals throughout the state, including both hospitals in Cape Girardeau.

Rector said she is relieved that the insurance coverage was extended because she will be able to continue to live without worry that she won't be able to afford the kind of care her son needs.

She said it also means Jeremy can, not only get medical help when he is sick, but he can have well visits too.

"Before we would go to the emergency room, wait four or five hours and see a different doctor every time," Rector said.

"It was very intimidating for Jeremy," she said. "He didn't want to go. Now we can just make an appointment and see the same nurse practitioner every time. He's developed a history with her."

The total cost of the program is $63 million.

Holden said the state is responsible for only $13.2 million and the federal government will pay for the rest.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128