HEALTHY FAMILIES: News-Press Faults Tougher Rules
The state is "going in the wrong direction" with changes to Healthy Families guidelines that will eliminate about 50,000 children from the program, a Santa Barbara News-Press editorial contends. The News-Press criticizes Gov. Pete Wilson's (R) decision to tighten the program's eligibility rules, leaving a large chunk of the state's 1.7 million uninsured children without coverage. "Wilson administration officials probably have some rationale for pushing 50,000 children out from under the Healthy Families program umbrella, but we fail to see what it could be," the editorial says. "Perhaps they don't understand that providing health care services for children is a bargain -- compared with the costs of treating adults who failed to receive adequate health care in their younger years." A recent study by UCLA researchers found that Wilson's changes, coupled with more accurate measures for counting eligible children, will cause a 25% dip in the number of children who will be eligible for the program. Click Healthy Families to read recent California Healthline coverage of Healthy Families, or click here to see all stories about the program (6/16).
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