Arnold's veto of expanded Healthy Families/ MediCal for kids -

[pinto]

It's one sad veto.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/08/state/n132043D51.DTL

Expansion of the successful Healthy Families programs and expanded access to MediCal (CA's Medicaid) would help close the "insurance gap" for children of single parent families, part time workers, the under-employed, etc. While established MediCal programs provide a level of care for the state's poorest citizens, the "working poor" are going without health care for their children.

There has been some success in providing health care for children in California. MediCal has been proactive in encouraging eligible families to get coverage, but the gap for those who fall between the cracks of eligibility and affordability grows.

In the SF Chron article, PICO, a grass roots coalition of community -church organizations advocating comprehensive health care for the state's children stated:

"The reality is that 90 percent of kids are covered with health insurance," said Rebecca Stark, an organizer for PICO California, a church-based organization. "The job is almost done. We need the courage to finish the job."

http://www.picocalifornia.org/index.html

A few years ago, a Robert Woods Johnson funded research project found that 16% of California children had no health coverage.

http://www.rwjf.org/research/researchdetail.jsp?id=1657...

Covering Kids: Variation in Health Insurance Coverage Trends by State, 1996-2002

Blewett LA, Daven M and Rodin H
Health Affairs, 23(6): 170-180, November/December 2004

The authors estimated state-specific changes in health insurance coverage rates for children between 1996-1998 and 2001-2002. They found considerable variation in the changing distribution of health insurance coverage for children across states, with significant increases in public program coverage in 29 states and significant decreases in uninsured children in 27 states. Children in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level were the most likely to enroll in public programs. They provide an overview of state outreach and administrative simplification efforts and raise concerns about the persistent variation in children's health insurance coverage across states.

the RWJ Foundation's "research overview" has a link to the full, copyrighted article

[proud patriot]

1. My Son has California Healty Families

if it were to expand , My husband and myself
would be able to afford Health insurance .

I'll call der gropenator Monday Morning .