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Children's Health Initiative Origins

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What Is The Children's Health Initiative
Santa Clara County is the first county in the nation to commit to

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providing health coverage for its estimated 71,000 uninsured
children. Through a groundbreaking comprehensive health
insurance package and aggressive outreach program called the
Children's Health Initiative, more than 90,000 of those uninsured
children have applied for coverage since the program's inception in
2001. And the rate of applications remains steady, showing the
great need for children’s health insurance in the State's fourth
largest county.

The Chijdren's,Health Initiative (CHI) reaches out to uninsured
children through three health plans: Medi-Cal, Healthy Families
and the new Healthy Kids program, which insures children whose
families earn up to 300% of federal poverty level and are not
eligible for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. Healthy Kids is the

essential component in helping reach the goal of making health
insurance accessible to all children in the County.

Eligibility requirements for Healthy Kids are simple. A child must:
1. Be 18 years of age or under.
2. Live in Santa Clara County.

3. Have a family income at or below 300% of the Federal Income
Guidelines. For example, a family of four earning up to $56,550 a
year can insure each child for only $4 to $6 per month.
4. Not be eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families.

Using CHI and Healthy Kids as models, both San Francisco and
Alameda counties have implemented similar plans to serve those

children who fall through the cracks of government programs. San
Diego, San Mateo and Orange counties are considering similar
initiatives.

How is Healthy Kids funded?

A coalition of community groups, including Working Partnerships
USA, People Acting in Community Together (PACT), Santa Clara
Valley Health and Hospital System and Santa Clara Family Health
Plan, worked with both Santa Clara County and the City of San
Jose to give a portion of tobacco settlement money to fund the
Healthy Kids program. Other funding for Healthy Kids comes from
the FIRST 5 Santa Clara County, the Santa Clara Family Health
Foundation and the David and Lucile Salter Packard Foundation.

Additional funding is being sought from foundations, corporations

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Children's Health Initiative Origins

and individuals.

What is Santa Clara County doing to ensure the success of
the Children's Health Initiative?

There are many elements, including the deployment of trained,
multi-lingual application specialists into the community, extensive

school outreach and the Premium Assistance Fund, that help
support the success of this innovative program.

For information about how you can help or to make a donation to
Healthy Kids call 408-874-1999.
For enrollment information about Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and
Healthy Kids call 1-888-244-5222.

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10/11/2006