Posted on 01/26/2002 7:08:48 PM PST by lewislynn
LOS ANGELES -- With the stroke of a pen, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Friday officially approved California's plan to provide medical coverage to 275,000 parents of children who qualify for Medi-Cal or the state's Healthy Families programs.
Standing at Thompson's side, Gov. Gray Davis vowed to find the $200 million in state matching funds needed to make health coverage available to these uninsured parents in "four to five months."
"We are collectively determined to find a way to do it," he said at a press conference at an East Los Angeles community clinic that serves 600,000 uninsured people.
California, which has the fourth-highest rate of uninsured people in the nation, sought federal approval of its plan to expand health coverage to low-income parents in December 2000.
That was before the energy crisis and the economic downturn punched a $12.5 billion hole in the state's budget.
One of Davis' budget cuts called for delaying the health-care expansion until July 1, 2003.
Davis said that was before he learned of Thompson's approval of the federal waiver the state needed to expand the Healthy Families program to parents.
The governor said state officials need four to five months to complete administrative procedures for the new program.
In the meantime, he vowed to "work very hard with our legislators to find the money that is necessary."
The federal government provides $2 for every $1 the state allocates. As a result, California could lose more than $400 million in federal funds if it has to delay the parent expansion.
Parents and caregivers of children eligible for Medi-Cal or the Healthy Families program could qualify for the low-cost health care if they don't already have health insurance and their family incomes are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
For a family of four, that would be $35,300 or less. The parents would pay monthly premiums of $10 to $20.
The federal government expects 275,000 parents would qualify for the program.
It also expects about 25,000 more children would be signed up for the Healthy Families program because their parents could also receive coverage.
"Obviously, it's good news, bad news," Amy Dominguez-Arms, Children Now vice president, said of Thompson's approval.
"It is really a relief to have the waiver. But now the more challenging task is to make sure the budget provides for the parent expansion."
Larry Levitt, Kaiser Family Foundation vice president, was optimistic the state could come up with the money because "no one wants to leave federal dollars on the table."
Jim Keddy, director of the Pacific Institute for Community Organization California Project, said Davis sounded "far more committed than we expected" to finding the money.
Gail Lang, who helped lead the group's 20-month campaign for the parent expansion, said she was "thrilled. I can't imagine this day is finally here."
The community organization of 350 churches tied up Thompson's fax machine with letters seeking the waiver before it was granted Friday.
Lang said she had her bag packed to fly to Washington, D.C., to lobby personally when she received word that Thompson would approve the parent expansion.
Thompson claimed he had approved the waiver in record time, saying California had formally submitted its application Jan. 16.
He said his staff and California officials spent much of the past year negotiating changes in the program state officials first proposed in December 2000, before President Bush took office.
Thompson also announced Friday that the president's fiscal 2003 budget will make available to states the estimated $3.2 billion in unused funds from the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Currently, states that have failed to use their full allotment during the previous three years must return the money to the federal treasury.
In addition, Thompson said Bush's budget would seek $350 million to continue paying for Medicaid for families in transition from welfare to work.
"We're continuing to make sure that work pays for our families," he said.
The Bee's Laura Mecoy can be reached at (310) 546-5860 or lmecoy@sacbee.com. Bee medical writer Dorsey Griffith contributed to this report.
http://www.heartland.org/health/nov01/maryland.htm
http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/pick_01/bisc0514.htm
http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/9906/9906.news_tenncareschief.html
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/reporter/?ID=807
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-s=1&sp-p=all&sp-date-range=14&sp-k=&sp-q=tenncare&sp-a=sp0539cb00
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/00/02/04/tenncare04.shtml
Gee GailA, The lockstep followers of the GOP on this forum would tell you that the market should decide what you're paid (not what you're worth) why can't it work for brain surgeons as well?
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