Ventura County Expands Kids’ Health Insurance
More than 3,200 children in Ventura County have been enrolled in health insurance programs since the Health Care for Kids program launched in the county in 2005, the Ventura County Star reports.
Most children have been enrolled in Healthy Families, California's version of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and about 6% are enrolled in Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program. Medi-Cal has a lower income threshold than Healthy Families.
About 1,200 children since 2004 have been enrolled in a Kaiser Permanente plan, according to Kaiser spokesperson Jim Anderson.
At that point, Kaiser froze enrollment in the program, and the county began providing health care services to children at significant discounts through the county health care system. About 18% of children receive health care through the county's discount program.
Paul Derse, chief deputy executive officer for the county, said that the Health Care for Kids program would cost more than $700,000 next year but that only about $200,000 of the cost would be borne by the county (Wilson, Ventura County Star, 4/23).