Bill Text: CA SB1 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Health care coverage: children.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB1 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB1-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senators Steinberg and Alquist
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Jones)

                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

   An act relating to health care coverage.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1, as introduced, Steinberg. Health care coverage: children.
   Existing law establishes various public programs to provide health
care coverage to eligible children, including the Medi-Cal program
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and
county welfare agencies, and the Healthy Families Program
administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board.
   Existing law creates the County Health Initiative Matching Fund in
the State Treasury, administered by the Managed Risk Medical
Insurance Board in collaboration with the State Department of Health
Care Services, for the purpose of providing matching state funds and
local funds received by the fund through intergovernmental transfers
to a county agency, a local initiative, or a county organized health
system in order to provide health insurance coverage to certain
children in low-income households who do not qualify for health care
benefits through the Healthy Families Program or Medi-Cal.
   This bill would make various findings related to the status of
children's health care coverage in the state and would state the
intent of the Legislature to, among other things, enact legislation
providing all uninsured children living in California access to
comprehensive health care coverage that their families can afford.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
the following:
   (1) Investing in comprehensive health care coverage for children
is cost effective because children with health care coverage are
healthier, are better able to access needed health care services, and
are at less risk of suffering from preventable illnesses.
   (2) Health care coverage helps children reach their potential in
school. According to a study conducted by the Managed Risk Medical
Insurance Board, children enrolled in the Healthy Families Program
experienced a 63 percent improvement in paying attention in class and
keeping up with school activities.
   (3) Although over nine of every 10 children in California have
health care coverage, about 763,000 children in the state are without
health care coverage according to 2005 data from the Center for
Health Policy Research at the University of California at Los
Angeles. Of these children without coverage, almost 60 percent are
eligible for either the Healthy Families Program or the Medi-Cal
program.
   (4) In this economic recession, working California families are
struggling. With the unemployment rate reaching 8.2 percent in
California, more workers are losing their jobs and the health care
coverage associated with those jobs. Now, more than ever, these
families rely on affordable health care coverage programs for their
children.
   (5) Forty-six percent of Medi-Cal beneficiaries in California are
children.
   (6) The goal of providing all uninsured children with health care
coverage through California's two statewide programs is achievable
now. With less than 10 percent of all children in need of health care
coverage, the state is close to completing the goal. However, if the
state fails to act now, more children may become uninsured,
resulting in greater costs to the state as the families of those
children turn to emergency rooms for the treatment of preventable
conditions.
   (7) Local Children's Health Initiatives (CHIs) have provided
health care coverage to over 150,000 children cumulatively since 2001
through locally-operated Healthy Kids programs. Through their
outreach, CHIs have also enrolled hundreds of thousands of eligible
children in Healthy Families and Medi-Cal coverage. With local and
private funding, CHIs currently provide local coverage to 86,000
children who are not currently eligible for state health care
coverage and would otherwise be uninsured. However, financing for
these local care coverage programs is not sustainable. In fact,
nearly 21,000 children are on waiting lists for these CHIs. A
statewide system is required to provide sustainable funding to ensure
that all children in California have access to health care coverage.
If California does not act quickly to provide a statewide solution
for children's health care coverage, children will lose their access
to care.
   (8) In at least half of the counties in the state, some children
have no access to affordable health care coverage.
   (9) Congress and the incoming administration have set addressing
health care as a priority, which presents new opportunities for
California to weave federal and state efforts together to finish the
job for children.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that
does all of the following:
   (1) Establishes a fund to protect existing state health insurance
for children and to phase in a statewide health care coverage system
for all children. It is the intent of the Legislature that this fund
include private funds, a portion of federal Medicaid relief funds
provided to California, and other federal funds made newly available
to California for the purpose of children's health care.
   (2) Prevents more children from becoming uninsured by preserving
Healthy Families and Medi-Cal coverage for children currently
enrolled in those programs and keeping the doors to that coverage
open for new enrollees.
   (3) Provides all uninsured children living in California, from
birth to 18 years of age, access to comprehensive health care
coverage that their families can afford.
   (4) Establishes, in a timely manner, a statewide system to prevent
children covered by CHIs from losing that coverage.
   (5) Builds upon the successful outreach and enrollment strategies
of the Healthy Families Program, the Medi-Cal program, and CHIs, and
improves state insurance programs' operations to enroll all eligible
children, including modernizing and simplifying the enrollment and
renewal processes.
   (6) Provides for a smooth transition to a statewide health care
coverage system for all children.
   (7) Ensures a plan for sustainable financing that supports the
statewide programs over the long term, including maximizing federal
funding for those programs.