It shouldn't have taken 14 years to conclude a major lawsuit against the state for failing to meet its obligations to children covered by the Medicaid program, which provides medical care for the state's poorest residents. Still, the proposed settlement appears reasonable.

The settlement remains subject to fine-tuning by negotiators and approval by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice, who wants the final version by April 27. And, of course, the Legislature would have to adopt it before it adjourns on May 28.

The central part of the settlement would provide a substantial increase in how much doctors (25 percent) and dentists (50 percent) would be paid for seeing Medicaid patients who are children. Current state payments are so low that most Texas doctors — 62 percent of them — won't even take new Medicaid patients, according to a Texas Medical Association study.

The proposed settlement also would ensure that families spend less time waiting for help when they dial a toll-free number, and the state would hire more people to help those who call for assistance in qualifying for and receiving Medicaid services. Also, the settlement would require the state to provide more transportation for Medicaid patients to get to a doctor and require the state to do a better job of giving Medicaid patients provider and referral lists.

State Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, has estimated the settlement would cost the state about $700 million over the next two-year budget cycle. That's a lot, but well short of the billions that some had feared — and it would bring an additional $1 billion in federal Medicaid funds to the state, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

The settlement would end a lawsuit filed in 1993 by parents who said they were having too much trouble getting Medicaid coverage for their children. It was settled in 1996 after negotiations with then-Attorney General Dan Morales.

But other state officials and the Legislature didn't like the deal and refused to pay. The issue then spent years in the courts, which finally ruled against the state, with the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting the state's appeal. Settlement talks began again.

The proposed settlement, while welcome, is another reminder of this state's reluctance to shoulder full responsibility for its children and their future, particularly if they are poor:

•There were 71,000 fewer children in the Medicaid program than in December 2005 — not because the poor suddenly got richer, but because of the collapse of a plan to shift the job of determining eligibility to a private contractor, Accenture, says Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an advocacy group for the poor. The state is shutting down that contract, but it's unknown whether it will hire enough workers to handle the applications.

•The Legislature is still working on legislation to restore massive cuts made in 2003 in the Children's Health Insurance Program, aimed at providing medical coverage for kids whose parents work but can't afford or obtain health insurance coverage for them.

•The Legislature and top state officials are engaged in a massive clean-up of the Texas Youth Commission, where some administrators are accused of having sex with youths and others are suspected of either ignoring or even covering up the problem. The agency also has a critical problem trying to hire and keep qualified guards and counselors because of low pay.

•The state's Child Protective Services is having so much trouble finding foster homes for children that it had to start regulating the practice of putting them in hotels — or keeping them overnight in agency offices. The agency is struggling with high caseloads and high staff turnover, and they may soon get even more work as the youth commission tries to reduce its load by releasing more kids from custody.

As any parent can tell you, children are expensive, and health care in particular is getting ever pricier. But if there's anything worth spending our money on, it's the health of our children — and thus the security of the future, theirs and ours.