A group of Florida lawmakers on Tuesday sent a letter urging Gov. Charlie Crist (R) to include proposed changes to KidCare, the state's version of SCHIP, on the legislative agenda for a 10-day special session scheduled for June, the AP/Florida Times-Union reports. Florida has more than 500,000 uninsured children, many of whom are eligible for KidCare. Some health care advocates say that KidCare enrollment has dropped in recent years because the enrollment process is too complicated.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers this year introduced a proposal to streamline KidCare but could not reach an agreement before the legislative session ended on Friday, the AP/Times-Union reports. The central disagreement was over whether the Department of Health or the Agency for Health Care Administration should run the program.

In the letter to Crist, Democratic legislative leaders wrote, "It seems to us that you, along with [CFO] Alex Sink, could lead negotiations over the next month with representatives from the Legislature and the provider community to iron out the remaining few details." The lawmakers added, "If you are able to succeed in forging a final product, we would urge you to include KidCare reform in the June special session." A Crist spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Crist over the weekend said that there "may be an opportunity" to add KidCare to the special session agenda (Royse, AP/Florida Times-Union, 5/8).