Thread: New law gives coverage to kids

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanlui ... 056847.htm


Posted on Tue, Jul. 05, 2005

New law gives coverage to kids

It will provide health, vision and dental insurance to about 3,000 uninsured children in SLO County

By Nathan Welton

The Tribune

About 3,000 children without health insurance in San Luis Obispo County will get coverage under a new law.

Signed into law last week, AB 1075 allows the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority to offer medical coverage for the San Luis Obispo Healthy Kids program. That initiative will provide health, vision and dental insurance to the county's estimated 3,000 uninsured children, with coverage expected to begin this month.

"All systems are ready to go," said Joel Diringer, a board member on the county's Children's Health Initiative.

AB 1075 was the first bill written by freshman Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, to become law.

"This bill will increase access to medical care while lowering the cost associated with uninsured visits to emergency rooms," Blakeslee said.

Under the local Healthy Kids program, some children will enroll in insurance for which they're already eligible, such as MediCal or Healthy Families.

The rest -- either undocumented immigrants or those whose family income barely exceeds the cutoffs for other programs -- will buy into a subsidized health insurance package for about $10 per month.

That package is essentially an insurance product offered by the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority. Blakeslee's bill ensures that it can be offered to families in San Luis Obispo County.

It will cost $1.2 million a year to care for the 1,000 children covered by the subsidized plan, or about $100 per month per child. Donations are critical. The other 2,000 children will be enrolled in the government insurance plans.

The rest -- either undocumented immigrants or those whose family income barely exceeds the cutoffs for other programs -- will buy into a subsidized health insurance package for about $10 per month.

And I get to pay $750 per month for mine.

Plus, I'm supposed to kick in a "donation" to fund this thing.

Illegal aliens should not be allowed to use this or any other services like these plain and simple!