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State officials say about 2,100 low income children have so far enrolled in the new Kids Care II program, with many more applications pending. That’s as of the end of last week. This spring, three Arizona hospitals announced plans to combine their money, and draw down federal cash to fund the program for around 22,000 kids overall. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Mark Brodie reports.

MARK BRODIE: The original Kids Care program has been frozen since 2010. Monica Coury with AHCCCS, which administers the program, says the state has been contacting people on the waiting list, starting with those who’ve been on the list the longest. But, Coury says, some of that two-year-old information is outdated, which made it more difficult to contact people.

MONICA COURY: Because we started with the older data, the older applications, we knew that the take-up rate would be slow at the outset. But, we saw a real jump in the last week, as some of the information on the applications is newer and fresher.

BRODIE: Coury expects that to continue, as the agency moves down the waiting list. She says by the end of next week, the state will have sent notices about applying for the Kids Care II program to all 105,000 kids on the waiting list. And, she says, the state plans to open the program up for kids who are not on the waiting list by the beginning of July. Kids who live in households between 100 and 175 percent of the Federal Poverty Level are eligible for the program … that’s less than $34,000 a year for a family of three.