Report Underlines Success of Kids’ Health Program
A six-year study released Monday by the Center for Community Health Studies at USC proves that spending "money on children's health insurance actually saves money in the long run," a Vacaville Reporter editorial states.
The study found that Healthy Kids, a locally funded health insurance program for children, saves California and the federal government up to $7.3 million annually in health care costs, according to the editorial.
The editorial adds that the study found that:
- Healthy Kids coverage prevented more than 1,000 unnecessary child hospitalizations per year; and
- The program could save up to $30 million annually in health care costs for the state and federal government if it were expanded to all counties in California.
Healthy Kids "is clearly an unqualified success," but the program is "in danger of disappearing altogether" if funding is not increased for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, according to the editorial.
The editorial calls on Congressional lawmakers to "use this latest report, armloads of statistics and their own common sense to develop a plan to keep SCHIP afloat" (Vacaville Reporter, 1/15).
The report is available on the Center for Community Health Studies' Web site (.pdf). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.