Majority of Uninsured Kids Eligible for Healthy Families, Medi-Cal
More than half of the 683,000 uninsured children in California in 2007 were eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families, according to a survey released Monday by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program, and Healthy Families is its version of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
In addition, the survey found that 23% of children were eligible for the Healthy Kids program in their county but were not enrolled. Healthy Kids programs use a combination of public and private funds to provide health coverage to children.
Other Findings
Of the 4.1 million uninsured adults, 6.6% were eligible for Medi-Cal, according to the survey.
Overall, the study found that the percentage of Californians younger than age 65 who were uninsured at some point in the year dropped to 19.5% in 2007 from 20.2% in 2005.
Researchers say rises in unemployment likely have erased the decrease (Berrios, Los Angeles Daily News, 12/15).
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