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Visalia Times-Delta
May 4, 2005
By Teri J. Brown
Each day in my pediatric practice, I see children who have
no health insurance. This means I usually see them when they're
sick--really sick. Parents often wait to bring their children
into the office because they do not have the money to pay
for services, or already have a bill outstanding at a local
clinic and have too much pride to increase their debt. So,
they wait until it hurts them too much to see their child
suffering.
"Cover the Uninsured Week," May
1-8, highlights an opportunity for us to remove these barriers
so that all our children are covered.
Tulare County has an estimated 15,000 children
who are uninsured, about 11 percent of our child population
ages 0 to 18. We already have 89 percent of them insured,
and that's a start. First 5 of Tulare County and a coalition
of community partners are engaged in finishing the job. We
won't be able to do it alone. Our whole community needs to
be involved.
First 5 Tulare County allocated approximately
$1 million to $1.5 million a year to fund outreach and enrollment
activities for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, and start a
new program called Healthy Kids. Healthy Kids fills the gap
for children ineligible for publicly funded programs, either
because their family income is too high or because of immigration
status. It offers full medical, dental and vision coverage
for children with family incomes up to 300 percent of the
federal poverty level, or about $58,000 for a family of four,
regardless of immigration status. First 5 Tulare County will
fund health-plan premium costs for children up to 5 years
old, but needs to raise funds to cover children ages 6 to
18. The Healthy Kids program is expected to launch in the
fall of 2005.
Recent evaluation of a similar program started
in 2001 in Santa Clara County shows that offering a Healthy
Kids program works--for children's health, for families and
for the economy. In that county, Healthy Kids nearly doubled
the proportion of children who have a regular doctor from
50 percent to 89 percent. Offering dental care tripled the
proportion of children who had a preventive dental visit in
the prior six months (from 23 percent to 61 percent), as well
as the proportion of children having a cavity filled or tooth
pulled (15 percent to 44 percent). Additionally, parents were
twice as confident that they could get care for their children
when they needed it (from 43 percent to 75 percent) and were
satisfied with the care their children received. Medi-Cal
and Healthy Families enrollment also increased in Santa Clara
by 28 percent.
For every dollar Medi-Cal spends in the Central
Valley, $2.38 is spent in the local economy, and for every
$1 million spent by Medi-Cal, 20.75 new jobs are created.
Of our 15,000 uninsured children, more than half are likely
eligible but not enrolled into Medi-Cal or Healthy Families.
Enrolling them not only means healthier children who are ready
to learn in school, it means more money pumped into our local
economy--about $7.6 million more.
In the coming months, you will hear more about
Healthy Kids and the Children's Health Initiative. We hope
you will join the county's three district hospitals, Foundation
for Medical Care, the Tulare County Health & Human Services
Agency, Family HealthCare Network, Tulare County Office of
Education, United Way and committed individuals in our effort
to have every child in Tulare County receive health insurance.
Insuring all our children is important. It's
doable. They deserve it.
Teri J. Brown, M.D., is a pediatrician
and chairwoman-elect of the First 5 Tulare County Commission.
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