Health care for children rescued
Kaiser Permanente and a coalition of community clinics closer look Healthy Kids program, which serves more than 8,000 uninsured children in Sonoma Countyâ save? t was low-income families      The program threatened to near-extinction since last summer by state budget cuts, the money sought by the progressive elimination of health insurance more and more children to save.
has, however, the district Department of Health Services arranged transfer of administrative responsibility for the program for the Redwood Community Health Coalition, an agency, the 15 health centers and clinics in Sonoma, Napa, Marin and Yolo counties links. After the plan is not insured children qualifying for the health care they receive either delivered at the clinics or doctors’ offices at Kaiser Permanente.
A dramatic change in program management and medical supply is necessary because state funding will end in 2010, when the funds from the California Endowment Fund and Blue Shield Foundation, which had been paying health insurance premiums amounting to 0,000 per year, Cliff Coates, Healthy Kids manager said since 2005.
Coates said funding from First 5 Sonoma County, are funded by tobacco tax will continue, but some aid from the hospital groups, as are St. Joseph Health System Foundation, shortly before the end.
â? This action is necessary to move from cash insurance in kind Servicesa? provided by Kaiser and the clinics, said Coates.
County supervisors approved the transfer of program management in the hospital on 10 Coalition November and the transition to early next year. Said county public health director Dr. Mary Maddux-Gonzalez of the community would step around 0000 to save on administrative costs.
Â? We face challenges in funding and is part of the reason for the relocation of the administration, â? Maddux-Gonzalez said.
Under the new program structure, children 5 years old and younger will receive most of their care at community clinics, while those who would be seen from 6 to 18 at Kaiser facilities.
Coates credited Kaiser with the help save the program by enrolling more children, and provides far more tangible than the medical services programa? original business plan had estimated.
Kaiser was originally projected to serve 789 children in the program, but eventually reached 3245 to June 2009, said Coates. Additionally, the value of Kaiserâ is? S-type of medical services in the last four years, to .5 million was double the original forecasts.
As a result of the four-year effort of the Healthy Kids coverage to uninsured children has extended almost 4,000 children, instead of the original forecast of 2,035.
â? Kaiser, the expectations we had for enrollment surpassed one? ? said Supervisor Efren Carrillo. â? To enroll 9,000 children of low income is a phenomenal achievement. But there are still 10,000 children not insured, we do our work for us.â ????
The California Health Care Foundation has cut estimated that due to declines in employer-based health insurance, we have up to 10,000 uninsured children in Sonoma County.
Pedro Toledo coordinator for the Redwood Community Health Coalition, said enrollment, clinics such as Southwest Community Health Center, Alliance Medical Center and Petaluma Health Center were getting ready to adopt more children as patients. Toledo said that all hospitals have a goal of creating a single â? Medical homea? where uninsured families can access health services.