FYI: Over half a million kids under the age of 19 are do not have health insurance in New York State, putting the state in the bottom half of the nation for covering children, according to a Children’s Defense Fund of New York report. CDF-NY says New York ranks 27th among the states, with 10.4 percent of kids without coverage. The state has one of the most expansive Medicaid and Child Health Plus programs in the nation, but CDF-NY notes, as have many other observers, that the enrollment process is so cumbersome that it both deters people from applying and leaves those who would qualify but can’t prove it ineligible. [10/24/03]