FRANKFORT — Kentucky isn’t usually out in front on health issues. But Gov. Steve Beshear said one effort by his administration to improve Kentucky residents’ health is ahead of the game.

Beshear went to Second Street Elementary School in Frankfort on Monday morning to announce the state has enrolled 32,000 qualifying children in the state’s K-CHIP and Medicaid programs for health insurance since last October. Last fall, Beshear set as a goal the enrollment of 35,000 children by June 2010 and he said Monday the state is likely to meet the goal by the end of 2009.

The Kentucky Children’s Insurance Program or K-Chip insures children in families at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (about $44,000 for a family of four). Those children are from families, according to Vikki Franklin, spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but still can’t afford private insurance. Those who do meet Medicaid eligibility guidelines are enrolled in that program. Both programs are largely federally funded.

Janie Miller, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said the total cost of the additional 32,000 kids enrolled in the two programs is about $78,000, about 20 percent of which is paid by the state and the remainder by the federal government. Miller also said the state exploited larger federal Medicaid matches to help absorb the state portion of the added costs. Those funds are scheduled to end in December 2010.

When Beshear last fall called for increased enrollment, about 53,000 Kentucky children were insured by the two programs but an estimated 67,000 were eligible but nor enrolled. The state streamlined the enrollment procedures and recruited schools, local health departments and community agencies to help get the word out to eligible families and help them enroll. The state made it possible to enroll online and eliminated the requirement for face-to-face interviews prior to enrollment.

It worked. About 2,500 enrolled in each month since the program began. But Beshear said that still doesn’t meet the actual need of eligible children and the state will continue to try to enroll as many as it can.

“The state will strive to sign up every eligible family because I believe we have a moral obligation to every child,” Beshear said. He said the numbers of eligible children and the increased enrollment reflect the state of the economy. And “access to quality, affordable health care” is increasingly difficult for Kentucky families who have lost jobs or homes, he added.

“Meeting our goal earlier than anticipated also serves as an indicator of the state of our economy and demonstrates the effect it has on families’ everyday lives,” Beshear said.

The executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, a Louisville non-profit organization which advocates on issues affecting children and low-income families, praised Beshear for the program and its success.

Terry Brooks said KYA has lobbied state government for years “to see families as customers rather than as a burden on the state budget. The Beshear administration saw those potential K-CHIP families as customers.”

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.