| Article |
March 30, 2006
Inside Bay Area
County's Healthy Kids expands
Infusion of cash will help insure more children who do not qualify for other low-income plans
Rebecca Vesely,
Alameda County is expanding a popular program that insures children who do not qualify for other public health plans, officials said Wednesday.
Healthy Kids, which launched in October, offers children from infants to age 18 comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage. Qualifying children have household incomes of up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or $60,000 for a family of four.
The program recently received $135,000 from First 5 Alameda County and $33,750 from First 5 California to accept another 150 children in addition to the 1,100 already enrolled.
All children are eligible regardless of immigration status.
Alameda County is one of 18 counties statewide with Healthy Kids programs. All are funded through private donations and county grants.
Within three months of launching Healthy Kids, all slots were full, said Ingrid Lamirault, CEO of the Alameda Alliance for Health, which administers the program.
About 21,000 children in Alameda County are uninsured. About half qualify for but are not enrolled in either Medi-Cal or Healthy Families, two state/federal programs aimed at low-income residents.
Even children who are not in this country legally should have access to health care, said Mark Friedman, CEO of First 5 Alameda County.
"Proper health care is a key essential ingredient to succeed in school, without which education goals can't be met," he said.
One critical area of need is dental care, which many healthinsurance programs do not cover, said Elizabeth Acosta-Crocker, director of children and family services for the Unity Council in Oakland's Fruitvale district. By third grade, 69 percent of children in Alameda County have untreated tooth decay, according to a recent survey by the county Health Department.
Children enrolled in Healthy Kids pay premiums of $10 a month and co-pays up to $15.
For more information about Healthy Kids, call (877) 371-2222.
Contact Rebecca Vesely at rvesely@angnewspapers.com.