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Glendale News Press
September 22, 2005
By Tania Chatila
GLENDALE, CA--Children at the New Horizons
Family Center gave their stamps of approval to a couple bills
Thursday morning that officials say would provide healthcare
to all California children.
With red, green, yellow and blue paint on
their hands, children stamped their prints all over a banner
asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign Assembly Bill 772
and Assembly Bill 1199 on Oct. 9.
"Kids can't vote, but I think
most people would agree that as a society, we have to make
sure all kids can see a doctor," said Assemblyman Dario
Frommer, who co-authored the bills with Assemblywoman Wilma
Chan (D-Oakland).
AB 772 would create the California Healthy
Kids program, which would streamline existing health care
programs, such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, to offer
coverage to all the state's uninsured children, Frommer said.
AB 1199 would help fund the California Healthy
Kids program by collecting public and private donations and
asking the government to match those donations, he said.
"In a state as prosperous as California,
there's no excuse for a child to be unable to see a doctor
when they're sick," Frommer said.
The state spends about $6 billion a year
in health care costs for the millions of uninsured people
in California, 1 million of whom are children, Frommer said.
If passed, the bill could save California
an estimated $100 million in the first three years, said Wendy
Lazarus, founder and co-president of the Children's Partnership,
an organization that supports the bill.
Not only would the state benefit from healthy
children attending school more regularly, but if the bills
pass, the state would also save on emergency room costs, because
children would be able to see a doctor under the California
Healthy Kids program before a condition worsens, Frommer said.
"So often our job isn't just to
treat children when they are sick, but also to give them preventive
care to keep them healthy as they grow," said Dr. Robert
Vinetz, a pediatrician from Queenscare Family Clinics who
attended Thursday's event.
The program, though initial first year start-up
costs are estimated at $17 million, would cost state residents
only $10 to $12 a year to fund, Frommer said.
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