CALIFORNIA: WILSON’S PLAN GREETED WITH BIPARTISAN SUPPORT

      Gov. Pete Wilson's (R) "design of a massive new health
 program for children of the working poor won swift bipartisan
 applause" yesterday, 
 Los Angeles Times reports.  The "political harmony" raised hopes
 that a deal could be reached before the end of the legislative
 session, which is two weeks away.  The support for the plan is
 also significant because "assistance to the poor is a traditional
 battleground for Wilson and the Democrats."  Senate President Pro
 Tem Bill Lockyer (D) said, "I think the plan is basically very
 sound.  The encouraging thing is that I think we are
 philosophically close to an agreement."  Assembly Speaker Cruz
 Bustamante's (D) office "said the speaker had no major
 disagreements with the plan."
      NOT ALL ROSES       
      Despite the positive reaction yesterday to Wilson's plan,
 there remains some concern that the plan, which would "create a
 new pool of private insurance companies" that would provide
 coverage to children, will be less effective than the Medi-Cal
 program.  Some Democratic lawmakers expressed concern that the
 "private insurance companies will not contract with doctors and
 hospitals that are now on the front line of providing health care
 to the poor" (Lesher/Rivera, 8/28).  A 
 Los Angeles Times editorial raises objections to the Wilson plan. 
 The Times writes that Wilson's proposed private insurance program
 is "untested and too risky to become the state's principal means
 of caring for uninsured children."  The plan, according to the
 Times would "be more complicated and offer fewer benefits than
 Medi-Cal, and at higher out-of-pocket costs for poor families." 
 The editors instead favor a "mixed model that tries out some new
 private insurance programs and at the same time expands Medi-
 Cal."  The editorial also laments the failure of the California
 government to allocate federal money for children's health.  That
 failure will prevent implementation of the program until July
 1998 (8/28).