by Assemblymember John Laird

More than 800,000 Californians eighteen or under do not have health insurance. This is not acceptable in the wealthiest state of the wealthiest nation in the world. The State Assembly is moving ahead with a universal coverage plan to be implemented over the next three years. We still need the support of the State Senate and governor, but we in the Assembly have voted to guide the debate by laying out a goal and how to get there as quickly as possible.

Tired of waiting for action at the state and federal levels, eighteen California counties – Santa Cruz County included – have established “children’s health initiatives” to cover all kids.

These local programs are supported by a mix of foundation money, redirected public money, private contributions and grants from First Five programs. However, this mix cannot sustain coverage over time, and 24,000 California kids are on waiting lists in the counties where these programs exist.

In the past, the governor has pledged his support for insuring all kids for health care. In this year’s budget, he proposed increasing outreach to Californians eligible for Healthy Families (a state program providing low-cost insurance for kids), as many children are eligible, but don’t sign up. The governor’s approach has been to move toward universal coverage through better outreach to existing services. This still leaves hundreds of thousands of children without health coverage.

The Assembly has set a date of 2008 to get to “universal coverage,” generally defined as serving families whose income is at 300% of the federal poverty level. The estimated state cost of bringing the uninsured kids to this level is $330 million – as part of a state budget that will total over $100 billion when adopted this summer.

For the first year, the Assembly plan provides funds to the State Department of Health to set up the administrative infrastructure to make universal access a reality. The Assembly also puts in $40 million for the first step, to be matched by applying counties.

Funds for this purpose will quite likely draw down federal monies on a dollar for dollar basis. That will make the state support double in value as this program is ramped up. This effort should have other financial benefits, as reduced emergency room visits and better health care should reduce costs for everyone.

I believe taking clear and strong action to set a deadline for universal health care coverage for kids will draw others toward our goal in the debate. This is the right thing to do, and now is the time.