Opinion

Ted Burke: Children must have health insurance

In the aftermath of the special election and in view of their poor performance ratings, let's have hope that legislative leaders and the governor will now operate in the bipartisan climate we voters deserve. As business leaders, we should encourage them to begin by working together to ensure all children who lack health-care coverage get coverage. It has been talked about for far too long. It is now time for action. And what an ideal place for our representatives to embark, as children's health is an issue that should cut across political divides.

First and foremost, covering kids is the right thing to do for those children most in need. And from a business perspective, covering all kids is good economic policy ‹ for the state and for individual businesses. Health insurance allows children to receive preventive care and medical and dental attention before a problem gets serious and more costly. Every dollar spent on childhood immunizations, for example, saves $13 down the road.

Insuring children will help lower parents' absenteeism and loss of productivity that result from sick children. Nationally, absenteeism costs employers between $2 and $12 billion each year, suggesting that ensuring adequate access to preventive care for children could save California employers billions of dollars over the long term.

Providing health coverage for all California kids would also produce tremendous benefits for the state's economy.

Federal matching funds are available for approximately 62 percent of California's uninsured children. By enrolling children in public insurance, California could gain hundreds of millions in new federal dollars that would flow into local economies.

In total, California counties can expect an estimated $390 million in state and federal resources from insuring children in existing public programs, with the federal government financing up to two-thirds of this amount. These funds can in turn generate new jobs, new revenues and stronger local economies.

Of course, the most important argument for covering all kids is that it's undeniably the right thing to do for our children. Countless studies have shown that children who have health insurance are healthier than those without and are more likely to get the care they need to ensure healthy development. In addition, California's Health Families program found having health insurance contributes to better performance in school.

Fortunately, covering kids is a goal that's within reach. Over 90 percent of California's 10 million children are insured. Of the remaining 800,000, over half qualify for existing public programs like Healthy Families and Medi-Cal.

Several counties have created local programs working with business and other stakeholders, including Santa Cruz County's Healthy Kids, proving the concept can work. In its first year, Santa Cruz County Healthy Kids covered more than 1,500 previously uninsured kids.

But local resources cannot complete the job on their own and other counties may never have the resources to launch a program.

So how do we reach our goal of insuring every child? We begin by making the current system more efficient and cost-effective. Making better use of what we already have goes a long way toward reaching the goal. Of the estimated $330 million annually that would be required to provide comprehensive health coverage to all California's kids, about 70 percent is already being spent to provide episodic care to uninsured children.

Other core elements for a solution are already in place. Employer-based insurance now covers more than 50 percent of California's children. Publicly funded programs cover 30 percent. With relatively small investments, California can leverage matching federal dollars to complete the job and cover all kids.

At a series of convening conducted by the United Way this past year, business leaders throughout the state showed strong support for the concept of covering all kids, and acknowledged it is wise economic and social policy for California.

Yet, while business leaders support covering all kids, we know the devil is in the details and, thus, we need to be prepared to lead the debate. Any solution and funding must be economically sound and not jeopardize jobs, hurt California businesses, or impede the state's economic recovery. This can be done if the solution:

• Is sustainable over time;
• Creates a public/private partnership to increase efficiency and oversight, similar to how the Healthy Families program is administered;
• Includes a voluntary business participation model with employer incentives for participation.

Business leaders have joined with a growing coalition of civic leaders, educators, health-care providers, faith leaders, labor representatives and children's advocates to being to develop a realistic, long-term solution to cover all California kids. It's now time for our legislators form both parties to join forces and work with the governor and industry leaders to finish the job.

That's exactly the type of bipartisan problem-solving that voters currently demand, that our economy needs and that California's children deserve. Ted Burke co-owns Shadowbrookand Crow's Nest restaurants.