This Healthy Kids program will have far-reaching effects in Florida that extend beyond the confines of individual children's health. If left uninsured, Florida's children would incur healthcare costs that greatly exceed the costs of providing them with insurance, and this added cost would devolve to the taxpayers to cover, thus making Florida a less attractive place to live or open a business. With the Healthy Kids program in place, however, the taxpayer burden can remain within the usual limits. The Healthy Kids program would also have a beneficial effect on the healthcare system since it would not be deluged with children's emergency cases that could have been handled as non-emergencies if parents had sought medical care for their children earlier. In addition, Healthy Kids would have an effect on population subgroups such as migrant workers and other underpaid or unemployed groups, because they would not otherwise be able to afford children's healthcare insurance.
The Healthy Kids program would have a significant effect on the area's macroeconomic system. Since the cost of providing healthcare to uninsured children are borne by area taxpayers, the lack of a Healthy Kids program would cause higher taxes that could discourage people from settling or opening businesses in the area, while the implementation of Healthy Kids would keep taxes within their usual limits. An IMF study in Hong Kong found that as healthcare costs rise, the government raises taxes to keep government debt from rising, and the rising taxes in turn limit consumption (Botman & Porter, 2008, p. 13).
This will prevent the potential exodus of residents from the area that could occur if taxes were raised to cover the costs of child healthcare. Since rising taxes tend to reduce consumption as people have less disposable income to spend, instituting Healthy Kids would also maintain consumption an
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