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Sacramento Bee
By Clea Benson
January 4, 2007
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will call for universal insurance
for California children in the health care proposal he
unveils next week -- but isn't likely to suggest a way
to pay for it, advocates who have been briefed on the
plan said Wednesday.
Of the approximately 6.5 million uninsured in California,
about 800,000 are under 18.
The governor's plan would cover those children by expanding
eligibility for current government health insurance programs,
said Jim Keddy of PICO California, a group that is among
many lobbying for children's coverage.
When he delivers a "state of health care" speech on
Monday, the governor also is expected to propose covering
more uninsured adults by requiring individuals to have
insurance and employers to help pay for that -- a model
his administration refers to as "shared responsibility."
Adam Mendelsohn, a spokesman for the governor, declined
to confirm the details.
"Nothing is 100 percent final in the governor's health
care plan," Mendelsohn said. "The governor is focused
on tackling California's broken health care system without
raising taxes. The rest of the proposals are all being
finalized."
Keddy said he had been told the governor would propose
allowing children whose families make up to 300 percent
of the federal poverty level -- almost $50,000 for a
family of three -- to enroll in Healthy Families, a program
subsidized by the state and the federal government.
The governor vetoed a Democratic bill that would have
done a similar expansion of children's coverage in 2005,
saying the $300 million price tag was too high. But he
has said he believes all children should be covered and
last year proposed extra funds in the budget to help
more children obtain insurance. That proposal was dropped
because Republicans in the Legislature opposed using
the money to cover the children of undocumented immigrants.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has said he supports coverage
for undocumented children.
It is unclear how the governor would cover the costs.
Keddy and others said they did not expect the governor
to include funding details in the initial budget proposal
for the 2007-08 fiscal year that he is also expected
to release next week.
Legislative Democrats are also proposing health care
programs that would insure all children and require employers
and individuals to shoulder some of the costs of insurance.
In remarks to reporters Wednesday, Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, said he expected
the governor's plan to "look a lot like mine."
"If you're going to require the employee to pay for
a percentage of the health care, the employer has to
do their share," Núñez said. "I don't know
what (the governor's) threshold is going to be, but I
do think he's going to have a mandate for employers."
Meanwhile, children's advocates are planning to keep
pressure on lawmakers to enact universal care for young
Californians. They are organizing viewing parties around
the state for the governor's health care speech on Monday
and are urging their supporters to lobby.
Keddy said advocates "commend" the governor for including
children's coverage in his plan.
"Investing in children has a long-term payoff for the
state," he said.
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