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Proponents hope it's just a start
to universal coverage
Ventura County Star
October 5, 2005
By Kathleen Wilson
An effort aimed at providing health coverage for thousands
of uninsured children--or where that's not possible, low-cost
rates--won unanimous approval Tuesday from county supervisors.
The program stops short of universal health
coverage, but supervisors said it would widen the net for
uninsured youngsters.
"I think the strategy is super,"
Supervisor John Flynn said.
Rather than starting a universal insurance
program at a cost of perhaps $5 million annually, county officials
are proposing to cover as many children as possible through
existing programs.
Estimates show that 27,000 of 32,000 uninsured
children in Ventura County qualify for two government insurance
programs: Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.
Starting Monday, county agencies are starting
a pilot program in Santa Paula designed to simplify the process
for enrolling in the two government programs.
Once kinks are worked out, it would be expanded
to offices in Oxnard, Simi Valley and Ventura, said Curtis
Updike, deputy director of the Human Services Agency.
Those who don't qualify would be informed
about low-cost insurance offered by Kaiser Permanente, the
well-known California HMO. While Medi-Cal and Healthy Families
exclude undocumented children, Kaiser permits them as long
as their parents make no more than 300 percent of the federal
poverty level, about $58,000 for a family of four.
The Kaiser program also is open to legal
residents and citizens whose incomes are too high for the
government programs but too low to afford high-cost insurance.
For children who still don't qualify, the
county hospital and its battery of clinics would offer discounted
fees. Office visits would cost $10, prescription drugs $5
and an emergency room visit $25. The family income cannot
exceed the 300 percent ceiling.
Health officials project spending $180,000
this year and $400,000 next year on the project, most of it
from resources outside the county general fund.
No one spoke against the program, but leaders
of an initiative to provide dental, vision, medical and mental
health coverage for uninsured children said it's only part
of the answer. The county system is set up to provide only
medical and mental healthcare.
"We support the program as a starting
point," said David Smith, the United Way chief executive
officer who heads a steering committee of the Children's
Health Initiative.
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