For Immediate Release

STATE PROPOSALS TO COVER CALIFORNIA'S KIDS REVIEWED BY TEAM OF NATIONAL EXPERTS

Costs, Coverage Impacts Basis for Study

Los Angeles, CA – A team of nationally recognized experts with The Lewin Group released today a study that compares cost estimates and coverage impacts of three different proposals, each designed to expand health insurance coverage for California’s kids. The proposals, two proffered by California lawmakers and a third by The New America Foundation, propose to vastly expand, if not completely cover all of the more than 877,000 children currently without any form of health care coverage.

“We wanted to provide decision makers with the tools they need to take a serious examination of what the costs and coverage impacts are of the various proposals that were before them during last year’s legislative session and that may very likely be presented when they return to Sacramento,” said John Sheils, Vice President with The Lewin Group. “Each of the three proposals, while varying in cost and overall coverage impact, take a giant step toward finishing the job of covering California’s kids.”

The Lewin Group analysis, prepared for The California Endowment, reviewed three proposals – legislation introduced by Assemblymember Wilma Chan and State Senator Martha Escutia, AB 772/SB 437 (Escutia/Chan); a proposal by The New America Foundation (New America); and legislation by Assemblymembers Keith Richman and Joe Nation AB 1670/AB 1671 (Richman/Nation), which also call for covering both adults and children.

Among its findings, The Lewin Group found that while Richman/Nation may be more expensive overall than either of the other two proposals, the proposal covers more than 4 times as many patients as New America, and nearly 15 times as many as Escutia/Chan because Richman/Nation calls for covering nearly 3.7 million adults, in addition to about 548,000 children. However, when only looking at covering California’s children, Escutia/Chan appears to be a more cost effective approach than New America despite covering about 30 percent of the total New America proposes to cover. The Escutia/Chan proposal would cover about 250,500 uninsured children, 211,000 through eligibility expansions, and another 39,500 enrolled through administrative simplifications.

With regard to the New America proposal, the analysis concluded that the mandate and default enrollment systems are crucial to its success in achieving near universal coverage for children. For example, as introduced with the mandate to cover all of California’s kids, New America would cover more than 857,000 children, or about 97.8% of children currently without coverage. Without the mandate, the analysis found that the total number of children covered would drop from 857,000 to about 115,300.

The analysis also found that the lack of automatic enrollment and weak penalties for not having coverage impacted the numbers of total Californians insured under Richman/Nation. Similar to the New America proposal, the number of children covered under Richman/Nation without a mandate would drop from 548,700 to 121,700. With the mandate, as proposed, the analysis concluded the Richman/Nation proposal would fall short of its mandate to cover all Californians without health care coverage, currently pegged at about 5.4 million people. In all, the proposal would provide coverage for about 3.7 million uninsured Californians, or about 67 percent of those lacking health care coverage.

“Each of these three proposals address the need to cover California’s kids,” said Robert K. Ross, M.D., a pediatrician and President and CEO of The California Endowment. “Clearly, there are many questions that remain for decision makers to consider. This analysis leaves little doubt, however, that finishing the job of covering all of California’s kids is within reach.”

The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. Headquartered in Woodland Hills, The Endowment has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego, with program staff working throughout the state. The Endowment makes grants to organizations and institutions that directly benefit the health and well-being of the people of California. To date, The Endowment has awarded more than 7,000 grants across California totaling approximately $1.4 billion. For more information, visit The Endowment’s Web site at www.calendow.org.

The Lewin Group analysis executive summary can be found at www.covercaliforniaskids.org. A full report will be available next week.