SACRAMENTO: Unveils Plan To Boost Healthy Families Enrollment
A new children's health commission has unveiled an "ambitious plan to boost the dismal enrollment of Sacramento children in the state's fledgling Healthy Families insurance program," the Sacramento Bee reports. The plan is to "team the region's five hospital systems with 10 particularly needy schools" to target children who are eligible for the program. "Each hospital will adopt two schools," and send speakers to educate teachers and parents about the availability of health insurance for low-income families. There are an estimated 9,000 to 14,000 children eligible for Healthy Families in Sacramento County, but to date only 1,000 have enrolled. Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna (D), who created the commission, said, "[T]here is potential for a lot of Sacramento children to fall through the safety net." He said the commission aims to boost enrollment by an additional 7,500 children over two years. The commission outlined a four-prong approach to covering uninsured children: improving Healthy Families and Medi-Cal enrollment; developing a "health curriculum for middle and high schools;" developing "a referral process between government and private children's health insurance programs;" and increasing "awareness of no- and low- cost health insurance alternatives" (Griffith, 11/20).
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