About Healthy Kids: In the News
Effort helps keep kids healthy: Sonoma County one of 16 providing insurance for children of low-income
Published on December 19, 2005
© 2005 - The Press Democrat
Byline: Katy Hillenmeyer
The Press Democrat
Page: B1
Alison Bryan's 10-year-old daughter gets weekly acupuncture treatments for muscle and joint pain, therapies Bryan says she could not afford without a Sonoma County program offering uninsured children health coverage.
As one of 16 California counties enrolling low-income families' children in the Healthy Kids initiative, Sonoma County has received a $150,000 grant that will help 150 more kids, like Bryan's daughter, Breana Briney, receive health insurance for a year.
With about 8,000 uninsured children in the county, "there are kids whose only access to health care is through the hospital emergency room," said Cliff Coates, program manager of Healthy Kids Sonoma County.
Of those 8,000, Coates estimated, 2,670 don't qualify for public programs, including Medi-Cal, because of immigration status or because their parents earn more than the allowed amounts. But Healthy Kids has begun extending coverage to people earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines -- or $56,000 for a family of four -- compared to public health plans' 250 percent cutoff.
"Ninety percent of this target group has at least one working family member," Coates said. "These are people who are working and making money but simply can't afford to insure their kids."
Bryan, a single Rohnert Park mom who drives a school bus, said Healthy Kids enables her to seek the care recommended for her daughter's fibromyalgia symptoms, which include frequent pain and fatigue.
"Financially, it's a big help," Bryan said. "It keeps my copayments lower so I can afford them, and ensures my daughter gets to see the doctors she needs."
Healthy Kids, a partnership of local public, private and non-profit groups, will need $11.9 million to operate in its first five years.
It has secured $3 million in cash and pledges, and has begun a five-year drive to raise $1.25 million from the community.
Cigarette tax money, combined with a Kaiser Permanente children's health plan, will provide $7 million more in resources, making insurance available to 1,075 kids over five years, Coates said.
The California Endowment awards grants to improve Californians' health and health care access, particularly for those lacking services.
Its $150,000 grant to Sonoma County coincided with a $200,000 grant to Napa County, Endowment spokesman Jeff Okey said, part of a six-county Bay Area contribution that will help cover 3,365 of the region's children.
You can reach Staff Writer Katy Hillenmeyer at 521-5274 or khillenmeyer@pressdemocrat.com.