A new state program designed to help provide insurance to needy kids isn’t taking off like officials hoped, and the director of the Department of Human Services says there are several reasons for the problem. The low-cost insurance is for kids living near poverty. D-H-S director Jesse Rasmussen says it is too hard to sign up for the program.Rasmussen says the other problem is that many of the eligible kids don’t necessarily qualify for Medicaid — so the department can’t readily identify them.Rasmussen says in the past six months, applications for the low-cost kid insurance have tripled. The program is made possible by a federal grant, and President Clinton has vowed to investigate states which do not have a majority of previously uninsured kids in the program.
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