For Immediate Release

STATEWIDE CHILDREN’S HEALTH INITIATIVES RECEIVE MAJOR BOOST IN HEALTH CARE FUNDING

$7.5 Million in Grants Awarded in Eighteen California Counties; Los Angeles to Receive $2 Million in Funding; San Bernardino, Riverside Awarded $950,000

Los Angeles, CA – Children’s health care providers received welcome news today with the announcement by The California Endowment that it is awarding $7.5 million in grants to local Children’s Health Initiatives (CHI) in 18 counties across California, including $2 million for Los Angeles. In all, the grants will provide sufficient funding to cover nearly 8,000 children across the state with health care coverage. However, local leaders stressed that a permanent, long-term policy solution is needed to sustain gains made in enrolling children into health insurance programs and to provide health coverage to the more than 800,000 remaining uninsured children in California.

“Today, California takes another step toward covering all of its kids,” said Cynthia Ann Telles, Ph.D., Chair of the Board of The California Endowment. “The Endowment is proud to support Los Angeles and other counties across California who are doing their part to make sure all of their kids are receiving the health care coverage they desperately need and deserve”

The Children’s Health Initiative of Greater Los Angeles has successfully been responsible for providing direct coverage to over 43,000 children through the local Healthy Kids program, which is intended for low income children not eligible for public health insurance programs. Through The Endowment’s grant, more than 2,000 children in Los Angeles will be eligible to receive health coverage.

“While Los Angeles is certainly making great strides in providing health insurance to our children, the task is far from complete,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “Los Angeles continues to lead both the state and the nation in the number of kids who are uninsured. No child should have to go without basic health care coverage and no parent should be left to choose between paying rent and making sure their child has health insurance. Yet everyday parents up and down the state have to make that choice. It’s time for the state to step up and finish the job of covering all of California’s kids.”

Today’s announcement ensures health coverage to 8,000 children statewide through their local CHI’s in Santa Clara, San Francisco, Riverside, San Mateo, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Kern, Santa Cruz, Alameda, Fresno, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties. Since they began in 2001, Children’s Health Initiatives have provided direct coverage to more than 80,000 children in California, and have helped enroll an estimated 80,000 children eligible for either the state-run Medi-Cal or Healthy Families programs. Today, nearly 90% of children in California are insured through either a CHI, public or private health insurance programs.

“Children’s Health Initiatives across the state have narrowed the gap between those children with and those families without health care coverage,” said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez. “But more than 800,000 children remain without any form of coverage and that is simply wrong. Today, we have an historic opportunity to achieve what was once unthinkable – health coverage for every child in California. Those of us in Sacramento must be committed to realizing this goal, which not only makes fiscal sense, but is simply the right thing to do.”

Each CHI enrolls children into Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs and also makes available a local Healthy Kids program intended for children ineligible for public programs. The Healthy Kids program provides comprehensive health care, including medical, dental, vision, prescriptions and mental health benefits for children from birth through age 18 in families with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level (400% in San Mateo County) who are ineligible for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. The programs require a modest premium and co-pays.

"Parents' ability to pay for health insurance for their children should not determine whether a child can see a doctor when they are sick. All children need access to quality, basic healthcare that allows them to thrive academically and personally. It's time the state invested in a statewide effort to insure all children across California," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, Chair of First 5 LA.

Riverside and San Bernardino Counties will also receive grant funds totaling $600,000 and $350,000, respectively. The grants will provide coverage for almost 1,000 kids in the two-county area.

“Children are our future, and we owe it to ourselves and our kids to give each of them the chance to grow up healthy,” said Howard Kahn, CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan, a co-convener of the Children’s Health Initiative of Greater Los Angeles. “In Los Angeles, the CHI has enrolled about 100,000 children in health coverage and we have raised over $100 million. But we need help to sustain this coverage.”

Each Children’s Health Initiative is a public/private partnership of health care providers, business leaders, advocacy groups, foundations, city and county officials, public health leaders, and educators. A complete list of grant awards and a breakdown of recipient counties, in addition to recent studies on Children’s Health Initiatives can be downloaded in PDF format at www.covercaliforniaskids.org.

About The California Endowment
The California Endowment was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment makes grants to organizations and institutions that directly benefit the health and well-being of the people of California. For more information, visit The Endowment’s Web site at www.calendow.org.