Coalition to Seek County Funds for Uninsured Kids

A coalition of church and nonprofit health organizations has a proposal for the Board of Supervisors: Allot $4.8 million to provide health coverage to every uninsured child in Orange County.

The groups hope supervisors will use money from tobacco settlement and Proposition 10 funds to provide insurance to about 12,000 children who do not qualify for federal health insurance programs--usually because they are not legal U.S. residents.

“There are a lot of resources coming into the county that could be used now. . . . We wanted to put this on the table as a viable proposal,” said Corey Timpson, executive director of the Orange County Congregation Community Organization, a group of church leaders.

Timpson and representatives of the Project Faith health agency coalition announced their proposal at a news conference Wednesday and said they hope to meet with supervisors soon.

Guadalupe Moreno, 33, a mother of three, is typical of those who would benefit from the program. Her children do not qualify for federal health insurance because they are not all legal residents.

“Every time one of these kids gets sick, our whole family financial situation becomes very unstable. We try to do what we can without the doctors, but sometimes we need to come,” said Moreno, who sought treatment Wednesday at the Share Our Selves Clinic in Costa Mesa.

Rocio Nunez-Magdaleno, director of Puente a la Salud, which provides help to farm workers and their families, said many families are made up of both citizens and those without legal documentation. As a result, the whole family does not apply for federal health programs.

Providing insurance to uninsured children can help all children avoid disease and be more productive, she said. Insurance “is a benefit to the overall community, not just the individual or the family. A lot of these kids go to school with our kids,” she said.

Orange County Bishop Jaime Soto said working families with undocumented members contribute to the county’s economy but often do not “receive the kind of just compensation enjoyed by most,” such as health benefits.

Health organizations estimate 90,000 children in Orange County lack health insurance. All but 15,000 qualify for federal insurance programs, and efforts are underway to sign them up. Of those 15,000, 3,000 receive coverage through a nonprofit foundation in Los Angeles called CaliforniaKids, which insures 21,000 children in 33 counties.

Timpson said that with an additional $4.8 million a year, the remaining 12,000 children could get coverage through CaliforniaKids because the foundation might provide some matching funds. The total cost would depend on the number of children enrolled in the program.

At least part of the money, the groups say, could come from the 50-cents-a-pack cigarette tax that voters approved three years ago under Proposition 10 and from Orange County’s $35-million-a-year share of national settlements of lawsuits against tobacco companies.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad said Measure H, which county voters passed in November, already mandates how tobacco money must be spent. But she said there could be a way to provide money to cover uninsured children. The supervisors conduct budget hearings June 12 and 13. “We have to have a healthy county. I’m anticipating taking some time and looking at the proposal,” Coad said.

Health Care Agency Director Julie Poulson said a county committee has worked with community clinics to address the problem of uninsured children. The proposal submitted Wednesday is “an honest, sincere attempt to address the problem. It’s just outside the existing discussion.”