Family coverage

For all the large problems with health care coverage in the nation, here is a small but important one that could be solved tomorrow. About 18,000 kids in Maine are without insurance, but more than half of those could get free or greatly reduced coverage. Hospitals across the state Wednesday will be organized to help parents with a simple one-page form to find out whether they qualify. There’s a good chance they will.

The program isn’t just for kids. Family Sign Up Day, sponsored by the Maine Hospital Association and the state Department of Human Services, can also help parents without insurance. Maine’s Cub Care and expanded Medicaid services let families of three earning up to about $30,000 a year receive coverage. A family of four with an annual income of $35,000 can qualify, too. The income levels are fairly generous because the cost of insurance is higher and jumps up another 10, 20 or 30 percent each year.

Tomorrow’s program represents Maine’s largest single attempt yet to get coverage for families with children under 18. People with health insurance, studies show, not only get care for more serious illnesses sooner, but are more likely to receive preventive care to allow them to stay healthy. Major illnesses can be financially devastating and are a leading cause of bankruptcy in Maine, but for kids, taking care of even a minor illness means fewer sick days and a far better chance to succeed at school.

Thirty-nine hospitals are participating in the sign-up day statewide. Most will have information in their lobbies about how to fill out the form. (For Eastern Maine Medical center and Acadia Hospital in Bangor, go to the Diabetes Center at the Eastern Maine Healthcare Mall on Union Street between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. St. Joseph Hospital will have staff to help out with the form from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in its Broadway lobby.) Anyone with questions about the program can call 800- 965-7674.

Maine, as lawmakers keep discovering, can’t solve all or even most of the health insurance problems here, but it can solve this piece of it. Now it’s up to parents to take advantage of this program for themselves and their kids.