FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
For Media Assistance

Legislation Presents Historic Opportunity For California to Ensure Health Coverage for Every Child

SACRAMENTO--Assemblymember Wilma Chan (D-Oakland) and Senator Martha Escutia (D-Norwalk) today unveiled the provisions of a bill that provides the historic opportunity for California to ensure health insurance coverage to every child. Thousands of families, faith leaders, teachers, businesses, health plans and providers, and grassroots children's health advocates converge on Sacramento to demonstrate support. Sponsored by the 100% Campaign and PICO California, this legislation puts forth a multi-year plan to cover all uninsured children. A March public opinion survey found that four out of five California voters support a plan to expand health insurance coverage to all California children, finding the goal "realistic and doable."

"There is no more important issue than ensuring all children's health. These bills build on successful state programs and propose innovative, practical solutions to insure our children and save taxpayer dollars," said Assemblymember Chan, author of AB 772 and Chairwoman of the Assembly Health Committee. "Insuring our children saves families and the state of California the costs of expensive emergency treatments for preventable health conditions."

"Covering all children is an achievable goal, which the public overwhelmingly supports. Our children's health is a strong economic asset for California. Healthy kids are more successful in school and grow to become productive adults," said Senator Escutia. "We have the historic opportunity to lead the nation in ensuring that all our children have access to affordable health care. Our bill would make our current programs more cost-effective and expand them to include all children." SB 437 (Escutia and Alquist) will be presented in the Senate Health Committee today.

Senator Elaine Alquist, principal co-author of SB 437, noted, "Community leaders across California are stepping up to the plate: Local coalitions in over half of California's counties have implemented or are planning public/private initiatives to ensure affordable coverage for all children in their community. With this bill, we are building on the local innovations, keeping the local flavor, and making statewide policy changes to ensure that every child in California has access to the insurance that they need and deserve."

The legislation (SB 437, AB 772) builds upon the work of Californians for Healthy Kids, an unprecedented bipartisan and diverse network of teachers, business leaders, parents, health care providers, health plans, faith leaders, and children's advocates focused on insuring every child in California.

Key provisions of the legislation include:

• Provide health insurance options for every uninsured child in California
• Make it easier for families to enroll and keep their children covered
• Build on the successes of local Children's Health Initiatives (CHI's)
• Create a system of shared responsibility for financing
• Phase in the program on a timetable consistent with responsible management and available resources

Statewide, a recent survey of California voters found that 78% support a statewide plan to "ensure that every child in California has health insurance." Public support will be evident today at a town hall event held this evening in Sacramento. "Thousands of Californians from all walks of life are here to support the health of the children of this state," said Jim Keddy, Director of the PICO California Project, founding organization, along with the 100% Campaign, of Californians for Healthy Kids. "This groundswell of support shows how committed our faith communities and families are to helping make coverage of all California kids a reality."

In January, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research released data showing that nearly nine million of California's ten million children now have health insurance. The majority of the remaining uninsured children qualify for either Healthy Families or Medi-Cal, but are not enrolled in the programs. Many families find themselves stymied by long, complex applications and the confusion created by a myriad of health programs. California also has an increasing number of middle-class families who are not covered by employer coverage and cannot afford to purchase insurance.

Earlier this week, PriceWaterhouseCoopers released an estimate that providing access to health coverage for all remaining uninsured children in California would cost between $119 million and $331 million annually when fully implemented. "For not a lot of money, we can reach a monumental goal, said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, and spokesperson for the 100% Campaign, a collaboration of Children Now, Children's Defense Fund and The Children's Partnership. "We currently waste tens of millions of dollars re-enrolling eligible children," said Lempert. "Simply removing bureaucratic obstacles can generate significant state savings which we could invest in children's coverage. We will reach our goal by being smarter and getting all parties to share the cost."

The 100% Campaign, a collaborative effort of Children Now, Children's Defense Fund and The Children's Partnership, with primary funding from The California Endowment, was created to ensure that all of California's children obtain the health coverage they need to grow up strong and healthy.

The PICO California Project is the united effort of 20 California congregation-community organizations affiliated with the PICO National Network. Collectively, we represent 350 congregations and 400,000 families statewide and are actively organizing in over 70 cities in Northern and Southern California.