<p>Georgia's popular Peach Care health insurance program that covers the children of some 260,000 low-income families could end in less than 90 days unless Congress soon rides to the rescue.</p><p>Georgia is facing a $131 million shortfall in federal funds for the program this year, one of 17 states facing a cash crunch from Capitol Hill.</p><p>Unless federal lawmakers act quickly, the state may be forced to send out letters in February to all enrolled families telling them their children's health insurance coverage will end in March, said Rhonda Medows, commissioner for Georgia's Department of Community Health.</p><p>"That would be incredibly, incredibly tragic," Medows told The Associated Press.</p><p>Congress passed a temporary fix just before departing for the holidays, shifting some funds from states with surplus federal child health insurance dollars to others, like Georgia, that have a shortfall.</p><p>But a Dec. 12 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found that even with that 11th-hour help Georgia is still among the biggest losers in the nation and will receive just $1.2 million in additional funds.</p><p>U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said when Congress reconvenes he will push to restore funding to keep Peach Care afloat. However, he added that Georgia needs to look at its eligibility guidelines, which may need to be tightened to remove thousands at the higher end of the income ladder.</p><p>"First, we need to deal with the immediate problem and then the states need to deal with the long-term situation," Isakson said. "The states that continue to have a shortfall every year have go to look at that and ask why."</p><p>U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, of Gainesville, who will be the ranking Republican on the House Subcommittee on Health in January, said he was confident that Peach Care would survive. He said he had been assured by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that Georgia would get more than the $1.2 million cited by the Congressional Research Service Report.</p><p>Yet Deal agreed with Isakson that a more comprehensive long-term solution is needed. He said some states habitually run out of money for their child health insurance programs and most of them are states that have made higher incomes eligible.</p><p>"Most of the states with a shortfall have been very generous," Deal said.</p><p>Georgia is one of just a handful of states in which families with incomes more than twice the federal poverty level are eligible for the child health insurance program. In Georgia, families with incomes of up to 235 percent of the poverty level may participate. That's an annual income of $28,351 for a family of two and $36,824 for a family of three.</p><p>Lowering the income threshold might not trim the rolls by much.</p><p>Only 5.3 percent of the state's Peach Care recipients are in that top income tier above 200 percent of poverty. Almost 70 percent have incomes below 150 percent of the poverty level, according to data provided to AP by the state Department of Community Health.</p><p>Medows said Georgia's program is successfully reaching children in need and it shouldn't be penalized for that. She said despite the assurances from federal officials, she is not optimistic about a federal solution coming fast enough to help in Georgia. She has sent a letter to children's advocates in the state asking them to lobby members of Congress.</p><p>Peach Care kicked off in 1999, soon after the federal government began providing money to states to create their own children's health insurance programs to combat the rising numbers of uninsured children in low-income families. The program was an instant hit in Georgia, exceeding its two-year enrollment goal in its first year.</p><p>Under Peach Care, families pay no premium for children age 5 and under. For children ages 6 to 18, monthly premiums are between $10 to $35 for each child, depending on the family's household income. Premiums are capped at $70 for two or more children in the same household.</p><p>Peach Care covers doctor visits if a child is sick, preventative care like immunizations, and dental and vision care. After premiums are factored in, the federal government pays 72 percent of the cost for Peach Care and the state pays the rest.</p><p>The state's poorest children are enrolled in Medicaid. Peach Care is designed for families who may not make enough at their job to afford health insurance.</p><p>Medows said even if the state wanted to pick up the tab to keep the program going in Georgia it couldn't if the federal money dries up. State law mandates that programs receiving federal matching dollars must continue to do so to receive state funds.</p><p>"This money is not just going to appear out of thin air," Medows said. "We need someone to step up."</p><p>___________</p><p>On The Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1d03c0c)</p>
