Excellent explanation of KidsFirst

[TayTay]

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/06-05/06-05-05/b01pe873.htm

He added that many states do an inadequate job of enrolling eligible children, partly because of the bureaucracy.
"What I propose to do is take over Medicaid children from the states. I will cover kids up to 100 percent, $15,670 of income. The deal with the states is if I agree to take over 100 percent, they take over from there.
"In exchange we ask states to take a lesser burden and cover kids from 100 percent up to 300 percent of poverty. That's how we get every kid covered. And it's a net plus to the states of $6 billion. So every state in country makes out with several hundred million dollars and it's an incentive for governors to do it," he said.
"The reason the states will love this is that, No. 1, they hate the bureaucracy, and No. 2, they don't do it well. They don't enroll the kids. There's a huge burden to enrollment.
"In my program, there's automatic enrollment. You go to school, you've got health insurance. You go to day care, child care, you've got health insurance. You're covered. So any provider will know immediately they don't have to wrestle with 'This kid doesn't have health care. We can't take him to the hospital,' " Sen. Kerry said.

[whometense]

1. I'm starting to get unreasonably hopeful.

I'm imagining a resurgence of real journalism in the small local papers that is carried upward by the internets, rather than the top-down insider journalism we're used to (think NY Times, WaPo, etc).

This is something that we're seeing happen with Kerry, and with the other papers Rox has been posting who are starting to carry the DSM story.

Well, I can dream, can't I?