It usually takes several weeks for the Medicaid card to be issued. The Children's Services staff was able to assess that the child was likely to be eligible for Medicaid, since the family income was less than 133 percent of the poverty line, the Medicaid income limit in Colorado for a child under age six. If presumptive eligibility had been an option, the staff could have enrolled the child in Medicaid on the spot. The child's ears could have been checked immediately, rather than waiting for the Medicaid card and taking the risk that the possible infection would go untreated. According to Robert Jones, WIC Program director for the Reynold's Health Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, WIC staff frequently observe that the waiting period for Medicaid eligibility determination prevents children from receiving medical care.
Many families cancel their appointments because they are unable to pay the fee.
Sick children aren't seeing the doctor. At the WIC evaluation, during which every child is measured and weighed, the child was found to be seriously underweight. WIC staff recommended that the mother take the baby to see the health center doctor for further evaluation. She also indicated that a lack of transportation would make it difficult for her to return to the clinic. If WIC staff had been able to make a presumptive eligibility determination, this child could have been taken directly upstairs to see the health center doctor.