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Editorial: Health care screening tools fixed

 
Published Dec. 28, 2015

The Florida Department of Health made the right call in revamping its screening and enrollment process for special needs children who seek treatment in a state-sponsored health care program. The department had been justly criticized for using a deceptive screening tool that resulted in thousands of sick children being booted from its rolls. The department's new screening tools fairly evaluate patients' eligibility and put children's health above cost-saving measures.

The Health Department drew the ire of children's advocates around the state earlier this month when the Miami Herald published "Bitter Pill," a series about the nearly 9,000 children who were thrown out of Children's Medical Services in an effort to cut costs. CMS is a state-funded aggregation of health programs for children from low-income families. Its patients are often some of the state's sickest with debilitating medical conditions, such as severe facial deformities or organ failure, who have few other options and depend on the care provided by the program.

In May, the Health Department instituted a new screening tool designed to help trim ballooning costs by weeding out ineligible patients. But instead of a methodical, compassionate screening apparatus, the state used a five-question parent survey with at least one trick question that spoke more to parents' hopes for their children's long-term rehabilitative prospects than their current reality. A wrong answer got kids kicked out of CMS, with the state insisting they could be served by other health care programs.

Under the new rule filed on Tuesday, the screening tool will include a five-question parent survey, an "attestation form" from doctors who must verify a patient's condition, and a list of diagnoses that will automatically determine if a child can enroll in the program. The new screening tool will debut on Jan. 11, when enrollment in CMS is scheduled to reopen. Health Department officials have pledged to re-evaluate the screening tool and diagnosis list in three months, welcome flexibility in a program that was far too rigid and lacked compassion when it purged special needs patients earlier this year.

Florida has a responsibility to provide health care to the indigent, particularly children with serious medical conditions. The 9,000 children who were previously treated by CMS and kicked out of the program are eligible to reapply using the new screening tools. Health Department officials should make every effort to ensure that former CMS patients and their parents are aware of the changes to the program and encourage them to resubmit applications. Officials should take particular care to explain the procedure to non-English speakers who were confused by the initial screening tool. After callously ripping patients away from their physicians, this is the least the department can do.