Kentucky plans to step up outreach to cover uninsured low-income children on the state's KCHIP plan, Gov. Steve Beshear has announced, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. One simple step: Allow parents to mail in an application instead of having to come to a state social service office in person. The application will be available on the governor's web site, among other places.

Beshear called it "shameful and shortsighted" that as many as 90,000 children in Kentucky have no health insurance. About two-thirds of them may qualify for the children's health insurance program, which currently covers about 55,000 kids.

KCHIP provides coverage for children in families who earn up to 200 percent of the level or about $42,000 a year for a family for four.