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San Jose Mercury News
September 1, 2005
Mercury News Editorial
If California voters could see the proven
benefits of Santa Clara County's Healthy Kids insurance program,
they would be demanding that the state pass Assemblywoman
Wilma Chan's bill to implement it statewide.
The Legislature is expected to send AB 772
to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by the end of next week. But
the governor will probably veto the bill, citing a lack of
funding for a program estimated to cost between $110 million
and $300 million.
That's shortsighted and flat-out wrong when
there are nearly 1 million children in the state without health
insurance.
Those children are more likely to develop
serious medical problems, clog hospital emergency rooms and
require expensive treatment for problems that routine preventive
medicine would deter. They are also more likely to be absent
from school -- absenteeism cost state schools $213 million
in funding last year -- and cause their parents to miss work.
To help pay for a statewide program, Chan's
bill has a companion bill, AB 1199, that sets up a statewide
health care trust fund that would solicit donations from foundations
and the business community.
That kind of partnership is working wonders
in Santa Clara County on a daily basis.
Initiated by People Acting in Community Together
and Working Partnerships USA, the Santa Clara Family Health
Plan covers more than 14,000 children. As a result, only about
3 percent of the county's children are uninsured, as opposed
to 10 percent statewide.
A survey conducted by the Packard Foundation
demonstrates that once a child is enrolled in the Healthy
Kids program, the proportion of children with a regular doctor
nearly doubles, from 50 to 89 percent. The program also reduces
by more than half -- from 22 to 10 percent -- the proportion
of children who needed a doctor's care in the prior six months
and did not receive it. And children who are signed up for
the program are more likely to see a dentist for basic preventive
care.
Seventy-eight percent of state voters in
a California Endowment poll support the movement to provide
health insurance for every child. The governor himself listed
it as a top priority when he campaigned for governor.
It's not too late for him to rally behind
the effort to give California a program worthy of serving
as a model for the nation. If you care, let him know.
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