Thousands of Eligible Area Children Not Covered by Health Insurance

CAMDEN – As a City School District nurse for 23 years, Robin Cogan has seen medical conditions go untreated because the children were not covered by health insurance.

The list of medical issues is long, including uncontrolled asthma, food allergies and other maladies that were not getting proper attention.

"It can be devastating to the families," Cogan said of the inability to secure insurance.

On Wednesday, the Camden Coalition, a nonprofit healthcare organization, kicked off an informational campaign to let city families know they are likely to be eligible for free or reduced-cost health coverage for their children.

Coverage is assured regardless of a child's immigration status and signing up will have no immigration impact on the families, health officials stressed at a press conference held at the KIPP Hatch Elementary School about the "Cover All Kids" initiative.

"This is a game-changer for us as school nurses," said Cogan, a nurse for 39 years and a Cherry Hill resident.**BULLSEYE

Many children covered by the free health insurance were administratively removed from the rolls last year because their families did not fill out renewal paperwork.

About 16,000 children lost coverage in South Jersey last year and about 3,000 were in Camden, said Victor Murray, the Camden Coalition's senior director of community engagement and capacity building.

About 60% were terminated from the NJ Family Care/Medicaid programs for administrative reasons such as missing paperwork and not because they were ineligible, according to the coalition.**STANDARD

The problem of having children without coverage is most prevalent in the Latino community, the Coalition noted.

"As you can imagine, the need is significant," Murray said.

Much of the problem can be solved by distributing information and providing navigation to families trying to apply for the coverage, the health care leaders said.**BULLSEYE

"It's all about getting the word out," school nurse Cogan said.

Details of the insurance program are available on the Camden Coalition site and the state site. Information has been translated into several languages.