CALIFORNIA: POSTPONES CHILDRENS’ HEALTH EXPANSION

      California, with 1.6 million uninsured children, will wait
 at least a year to access over $850 million in federal money for
 an expansion of children's health insurance, Copley News
 Service/San Diego Union-Tribune reports.  The new federal funds
 are part of the $4.3 billion KiddieCare program passed as part of
 the balanced budget agreement.  The federal money will become
 available October 1 and states will have the option of creating
 new programs to expand coverage or simply expanding their
 existing Medicaid programs.  California, however, has not
 budgeted the required $460 million in state matching funds
 necessary to receive the federal money.  Copley/Union-Tribune
 reports that California will not offer insurance under the
 KiddieCare program until July 1, 1998 at the earliest.  
      REACTION
      Craig Brown, finance director for Gov. Pete Wilson (R),
 said, "We're a big state and it's going to take a while to set
 this up.  A more likely scenario is that we could deal with this
 ... in the next budget process."  Brown's "most optimistic"
 estimate is that parents would be able to apply for the insurance
 in May 1998.  Wilson spokesperson Sean Walsh said, "We are not
 going to rush forward with a program that is not well-developed." 
 San Diego County Health Director Dr. Robert Ross said, "I would
 think that the state would not want to miss an entire year
 without getting the kids covered, or getting some of the kids
 covered at least."  
      CALIFORNIA'S PLAN
      Copley/Union-Tribune notes that most states "will opt to
 expand" their existing Medicaid programs to provide the
 children's health insurance.  However, Gov. Wilson does not
 support an expansion of Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program,
 because he dislikes the program's policy of accepting "all who
 are eligible no matter what the state cost."  As a result,
 California will develop a new program in order to circumvent that
 aspect of Medi-Cal (Wilkie, 8/24).