BILL NUMBER: SB 32 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg
DECEMBER 4, 2006
An act to relating to health care coverage.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 32, as introduced, Steinberg. Health care coverage: children.
Existing law creates the Healthy Families Program that is
administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board and also
establishes the Medi-Cal program that is administered by the State
Department of Health Care Services and county welfare agencies. Under
existing law, the Healthy Families Program arranges health care
coverage for children whose household income is at or below 200% of
the federal poverty level (FPL) and who meet other criteria. Existing
law also creates the County Health Initiative Matching Fund where
specified funds are deposited and administered by the Managed Risk
Medical Insurance Board. Under existing law, an applicant, including
a local initiative, may submit a proposal to the board for funding to
provide health care coverage to persons who meet certain income and
citizenship and immigration status requirements.
This bill would express the Legislature's findings concerning the
importance of providing health care coverage to all children in the
state. The bill would also declare the Legislature's intent to allow
all children living in California whose family income is under 300%
of the federal poverty level access to affordable, comprehensive
health coverage, to improve and modernize the process of enrolling
children in coverage and maintaining their enrollment, to provide
sustainable financing for children's health care coverage, and to
ensure interim coverage for children currently receiving health care
coverage through local Children's Health Initiatives.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) Investing in comprehensive health care coverage for children
is cost effective because children with coverage are healthier, are
at less risk of suffering from preventable illnesses, and are better
able to access needed health care services.
(2) Health care coverage helps children reach their potential in
school. Children with this coverage experience a 25 percent
improvement in health and a 63 percent improvement in "paying
attention in class" and "keeping up with school activities."
(3) Although approximately nine of every 10 children in California
have health care coverage, according to data in 2005 from the Center
for Health Policy Research at the University of California at Los
Angeles, approximately 763,000 children in the state are currently
without coverage. Of these, almost 60 percent are eligible for either
the healthy Families Program or the Medi-Cal program.
(4) The goal of providing all children with health care coverage
through California's two statewide programs is achievable now. With
less than 10 percent of all children being without coverage, the
state is almost there. Employer-based health care coverage, which now
covers 50 percent of children in California, and public programs,
which now cover 30 percent of children in this state, serve as strong
building blocks on which to provide coverage for all children in the
state.
(5) Local Children's Health Initiatives (CHIs) have provided
health care coverage to more than 86,000 children who are without
coverage and who are not eligible for state health care coverage
programs. A statewide system is required to provide sustainable
funding to ensure that all children in California have access to
health care coverage. Local CHIs provide successful models for a
statewide system to cover all children, but they do not have
long-term financial sustainability. Furthermore, there are nearly
12,000 children on waiting lists for these local CHIs. If California
does not act quickly to provide a statewide solution for children's
health care coverage, children will lose that benefit.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to take the following
actions:
(1) Allow all children, from birth to 18 years of age living in
California in families with a gross annual income up to 300 percent
of the federal poverty level, access to affordable, comprehensive
health care coverage.
(2) Build upon the successful aspects of California's publicly
funded state health care coverage programs, the Healthy Families
Program and the Medi-Cal program, and improve their operations to
enroll all eligible children in those programs, including modernizing
and simplifying the processes of enrolling children in coverage and
maintaining their enrollment.
(3) Create a statewide health care coverage system that builds
upon the lessons and successes of local CHIs.
(4) Promote voluntary opportunities to strengthen employer
participation in providing health care coverage for an employee's
dependents.
(5) Provide temporary, interim assistance to support coverage for
children currently enrolled in local CHIs while the statewide
programs are fully implemented.
(6) Ensure sustainable financing that supports the statewide
programs over the long term, including maximizing federal funding for
those programs.
(7) Promote opportunities for children to access services under
their health care coverage.
(8) Ensure a strong safety net as a vital component of access to
care.
(9) Do no harm as these reforms are implemented.