Newspapers recently reported on developments in health care for children in Florida and Oregon. Summaries of the coverage appear below.
Florida: Lawmakers likely will not discuss changes to KidCare, the state's version of SCHIP, during a special legislative session that began on Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Crist (R) and legislative leaders said, the AP/Florida Times-Union reports (Royse, AP/Florida Times-Union, 6/12). A bipartisan group of lawmakers this year introduced a proposal to streamline KidCare but could not reach an agreement before the legislative session ended last month. The central disagreement was over whether the Department of Health or the Agency for Health Care Administration should run the program (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/10). Supporters of the legislation say the differences have been resolved and lawmakers should approve the bill now rather than wait until the fall, when the Legislature might hold an additional special session (AP/Florida Times-Union, 6/12).

Oregon: The state House on Monday and Tuesday fell one vote short of passing a measure that would have raised taxes on cigarettes by 84.5 cents per pack to fund the Healthy Kids Plan, the Oregonian reports (Colburn/Cole, Oregonian, 6/13). The bill (HB 2967) would raise the cigarette tax to provide no-cost or subsidized health insurance to children in families with annual incomes up to $51,600 for a family of four. Three-fifths of lawmakers must vote for an increase in taxes in Oregon (Hammond, Oregonian, 6/12). Democrats had trimmed the plan in an effort to gain Republican votes by reducing the number of children who would receive state subsidies under the program. Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) and Democratic lawmakers said they would find a way to place the measure on the statewide ballot in November (Oregonian, 6/13).

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