Changes to California health insurance programs might result in loss of coverage for thousands of children

Efforts by California to expand health insurance to all children have "stalled," and "thousands of kids are in danger of losing insurance" as a result of recent changes to state programs, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers decided to increase monthly premiums for Healthy Families, the state version of SCHIP, by $2 to $3 per child, and, as a result, the state estimates that the parents of 19,000 children will end their enrollment in the program by July 2009. State lawmakers also decided to require residents to renew their enrollment in Medi-Cal, the state Medicaid program, every six months. According to the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), the requirement will reduce the number of children enrolled in Medi-Cal by 196,000 children over the next two years.

According to the Times, the changes likely will "further destabilize California's already shaky health care system," and they come as "private health initiatives that pay for the care of children are running out of money, causing them to limit the number they cover." E. Richard Brown, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, said that "thousands of California children are likely to lose health insurance coverage they now have" as a result of the changes (Rau, Los Angeles Times, 8/24).