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Santa Cruz Sentinel
By Matt King
January 6, 2007
SANTA CRUZ, CA--Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal
to provide health insurance for every child in California
would ensure permanent coverage for more than 2,000 Santa
Cruz County children with either no or tenuous coverage,
and it may end debate about whether undocumented immigrant
children deserve free medical care.
The 2,300 uninsured children in the county who are not
eligible for federally funded coverage now rely on the
county's Healthy Kids initiative, which patches together
private and public funds into a temporary safety net.
A state-funded plan would guarantee permanent coverage
for those children, said Alan McKay, executive director
of the Central Coast Alliance for Health, which oversees
the Healthy Kids program. And providing coverage for
children of immigrants documented or otherwise, which
the proposal calls for, would benefit all residents by
boosting immunization rates and cutting down on lost
school and work time, he added.
"From a policy standpoint, covering children makes sense
for not only children's welfare, but the broader community," McKay
said. "Particularly the preventive services that save
money in the long run"
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is expected to unveil
his proposal Monday, as part of a broad plan to reform
health care in the state. The plan is expected to include,
among other items, measures to require all employers
to allow workers to pay their premiums with pre-tax dollars,
and perks, such as gym memberships, for people who seek
preventative care.
Details about his plans for children are sketchy, but
the basics resemble those, favored by many Democrats,
that were included in a bill introduced last month by
Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz.
"This is one of those classic cases where the governor
knew he had to be more in sync with the people of California," Laird
said. "After winning an election in which he said the
issue was his ability to solve problems and work in a
bipartisan basis, I think that really moved him to his
position on children's health"
About 6.5 million Californians lack health coverage,
including nearly 800,000 children 18 and younger. About
two-thirds of the children are eligible to receive federally
funded coverage, according to figures provided by the
United Way of Santa Cruz County. The cost of insuring
the rest is estimated between $300 and $400 million.
This year's state budget is about $103 billion.
"Children are much cheaper to insure than adults," said
Mary Lou Goeke, executive director of the local United
Way. "This is what we want. A relatively low cost with
a high payoff for children and a high payoff for the
future of the state"
Healthy Kids is a coalition of more than 20 local public
and private groups that raise money and provide medical
care to uninsured children. There are similar programs
in 22 of the state's 58 counties.
Uninsured children whose families earn up to three times
the poverty line, or $60,000 a year for a family of four,
are eligible. That's the same standard proposed by the
governor in a plan designed to reach kids who lack insurance
but whose families earn too much to receive the federal
Medi-Cal or Healthy Families coverage.
A little more than half of the 5,000 uninsured kids
in Santa Cruz County are eligible for the federal programs.
Advocates said that a state plan would lead to more of
those children enrolling in those programs.
A poll sponsored by the United Way in November showed
more than 80 percent of state residents support universal
coverage for kids. Democrats proposed universal coverage
for children last May, but the proposal was excluded
from the state budget. In addition to Laird's legislation,
plans to insure kids were put forward last month by Assembly
Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, and Senate President
Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.
Perata's plan did not extend to undocumented immigrants,
but Schwarzenegger's proposal indicates bipartisan support
for at least one aspect of what promises to be a year
of health-care battles in Sacramento.
"Increasing health-care access for Californians is the
premier public policy issue this year" Laird said. "Covering
all of California's kids makes the most sense as a first
step, both fiscally and in terms public health."
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