The study by the Center for Health Systems Change mentioned here also found that employers - and remember this is a nationwide study - are encouraging their employees to use SCHIP for their children. Despite the policy of discouraging enrollment of children who have access to private insurance, SCHIP is just another employer outlet for the cost pressure. Take Florida, for example:
The strategy was most widely reported in Miami, where the Chamber of Commerce publicized Florida's program, KidCare, in a letter to 6,000 small employers and the county Department of Health promoted the program to small businesses. Moreover, the Miami-Dade School District, which faced a drastic 85 percent premium increase in just one year, provided information about KidCare to help employees who would have difficulty paying their share of the family premium. The school district also created a short-term special exception to its benefit policy to allow employees to re-enroll a child after the open enrollment deadline in case the child was deemed ineligible for KidCare.
So, New York is not the only state that's picking up the coverage costs of the children of Wal-Mart employees.
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