Topeka ? Parents couldn’t enroll their children in school unless they were covered by health insurance under a plan being drafted by a state board.

The plan also would mandate health coverage for young adults, expand state insurance subsidies for some adults and families and create a clearinghouse to help other Kansans find affordable coverage from private companies.

Many details haven’t been settled by the Kansas Health Policy Authority board. They include who would pay $400 million in projected additional costs associated with covering medical care for Kansans who currently are uninsured.

The board discussed health care proposals Tuesday, and it plans to meet next month to flesh out its recommendations. The board expects to issue a report Nov. 1, so that legislators can consider the proposals after their 2008 session convenes in January.

While their discussions are far from over, board members were most interested Tuesday in a plan that mixed a state mandate for children and young adults with market-based changes for other Kansans.

They showed little interest in having state government provide all Kansans’ coverage, eliminating insurance companies, even though a consultant said such a system could cut overall costs by more than 10 percent. The consultant nicknamed the idea the “Mountain.”

“A ‘Mountain’ is a huge shift in the current thinking of the state,” said Connie Hubbell, the board’s chairwoman and senior vice president of the Kansas Foundation for Medical Care. “We have to be practical in our proposals.”

The state created the authority in 2005 to examine health care issues, advise legislators and other officials and oversee some programs, including Medicaid, which covers more than $2 billion in medical services for the poor each year.

In January, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius called on legislators to enact a plan for eventually bringing universal health coverage to Kansas. Lawmakers passed a package that fell short of that goal but bundled together a series of modest initiatives.

About 312,000 Kansans don’t have health insurance, making it difficult for them to obtain adequate medical care.