First 5 Santa Clara County Commission Approves $1 Million Donation to Healthy Kids
The First 5 Santa Clara County Commission, which distributes revenue from from Proposition 10, the 1998 ballot measure that levied a 50-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, this week approved a $1 million donation for the county's Healthy Kids program to provide health insurance to about 900 county children ages five and younger and improve outreach and education efforts, the San Jose Mercury News reports (San Jose Mercury News, 10/17). Healthy Kids, administered by the Santa Clara Family Health Plan, provides comprehensive health coverage to uninsured children who do not qualify for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families in families of undocumented immigrants or with annual incomes up to three times the federal poverty level. Healthy Kids participants pay small premiums and copayments based on their incomes, and premiums and copayments are waived for families that cannot afford them (California Healthline, 3/20). Most of the $1 million donation will cover the cost of premiums for children ages five and younger who enroll in Healthy Kids in 2003, and part of the donation will help families who cannot afford copayments, which can range from $4 per child to $18 per month per family. The donation also will help cover the cost of staff time to enroll more children in the program. "We continue to see people who were in high-paying jobs, but have now lost their jobs and are unable to provide health insurance for their children," Leona Butler, CEO of the Santa Clara Family Health Plan, said (San Jose Mercury News, 10/17).
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