Promoting access to quality health care is a core legislatively mandated function for public health and supports the Florida Comprehensive Plan's policies of providing programs to protect the health, safety and welfare of Florida's children.

• All children should have access to a medical home and health insurance with benefits that cover their primary, preventive, mental health, dental and catastrophic health care needs



• Schools and child care centers where children congregate offer a special opportunity for outreach and for primary health care and screening of children for health care problems



• Health services for children includes educating families about their child's health care needs and advising parents and children on health care behaviors that may jeopardize their health

Children with health insurance are more likely to have a physician as their usual source of care, be adequately immunized, obtain dental care, seek and obtain care when they have chronic or acute conditions (ear infections, asthma, lead poisoning) and not use expensive inpatient and emergency care. ^(3-5)   Pregnant women with insurance are more likely to have adequate prenatal care and better birth outcomes. ⁽⁶⁾   Untreated illnesses in children and pregnancy can lead to disability and even death in vulnerable young developing children.

In determining the need for health services, the first question of concern is — how many pregnant women, children and youth have health insurance? Secondly, of those with health insurance, does the benefit package cover important health services such as: pregnancy, preventive and primary care, chronic care, emergency care, and therapeutic interventions. For those without adequate insurance, public health professionals work to put community patchworks together to assure at least the availability of preventive and primary services.

After a dramatic fall in the numbers of uninsured children, and even after Florida enrolled over 200,000 new children into new publicly supported child health insurance programs that can serve children up to 200 percent of poverty, the rate of uninsured children has begun to rise. A weakening economy further exacerbated by the events of September 11, 2001, and the rising cost of health care to businesses is making the job of insuring all of Florida's children challenging.

Figure 13: Florida Children (0 to 18) Without Health Insurance, 1993, 1998 and 2001 Sources: (Agency for Health Care Administration, Health Insurance Studies, 1993) Rand Corporation Survey; (Agency for Health Care Insurance and The University of Florida,1999) Florida Health Insurance Study: Volume One The Telephone Survey; and (Shenkman, Bono 2002) Results From The Statewide Children's Health Insurance Survey - Phase 1: A report prepared for the Healthy Kids Board of Directors an adhoc report

After a dramatic fall in the numbers of uninsured children the rate of uninsured children has begun to rise.