jueves, 27 de abril de 2006
Children's Health Initiative Gaining Momentum
Sharon Stensaas, Editor and Publisher
“Every child in Napa County is covered by health insurance and has access to care.”That vision is moving closer to reality every day as the Children’s Health Initiative (CHI) takes shape and gains momentum.
County leaders, organizers and supporters will celebrate the CHI kickoff Wednesday evening in Yountville, when they will gather at Vintage 1870 to recognize community support, raise awareness and hear Stanford University Professor Paul Wise, M.D., underscore the critical nature of children’s health in out society. Announced last year with a $1 million grant from Napa Valley Vintners’ proceeds from Auction Napa Valley, CHI now is fully funded for three years, has an executive director and has completed successfully its first school pilot project.
Initially organizers of this community partnership expected the initiative would meet the needs of about 2,000 Napa County children. Now it appears the number of children in Napa County without health coverage is much closer to 4,000, said CHI Executive Director Mark Diel. That may seem like a huge number, but by working with existing resources in local elementary schools it is not difficult to make contact with the families who might benefit from CHI. Then the work becomes untangling the huge ball of bureaucratic red tape that confronts parents with so many confusing, complicated and tasking details and requirements that they often give up before completing the process.
Between 65 and 75 percent of the County’s uninsured children likely qualify for public health coverage programs such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families insurance programs yet they are not enrolled. By maximizing existing resources and identifying missed opportunities CHI will find coverage for many children, and in some cases parents will even be presented options from which to select the program which best matches their family’s needs, Diel explained. If a child is not eligible for existing insurance programs CHI will provide it.
Last month the CHI completed a pilot program in three elementary schools – McPherson, Pueblo Vista and Carneros. At the end of that program 100 percent of the students in those schools were enrolled in a health care plan. Now the focus is on Calistoga, where up valley children are being enrolled with the help of the Calistoga Family Resource Center. CHI had a broad reach. It will provide insurance to children from birth to age 19 and to families whose incomes range from zero to 300 percent of the federal poverty level – which means up to $58,000 for a family of four. “We don’t discriminate based on immigration status,” said Diel.
Question asked during the screening process are solely for the purpose of determining eligibility for specific programs. Compared to children with health insurance children without health care attend school less often, are four times more likely to delay seeking needed health care, five times more likely to use hospital emergency rooms as a regular source of care and six times likely to get prescription drugs due to cost. In addition to enrolling children in health care, an equally important component of the CHI mission is to follow up and make sure the families are using the services and retaining their coverage over time.
Diel sees CHI as a small piece in a much bigger change in social norms. “Health insurance will no longer be seen as something people who have extra money spend it on but as a basic right, especially for out children,” he said. Initiatives like CHI are coming to fruition in 25 other counties in California, and the subject is taking its place on the State agenda in Sacramento, Diel added. In addition to Auction Napa Valley, CHI had received funding from Napa County, Children and Families Commission, First 5; Queen of the Valley Hospital, St. Joseph Health System, Kaiser Community Benefits, California Endowment, United Way, California Healthcare Foundation, Community Foundation, Blue Shield. Diel, who earned a Master’s degree in Public Health and has prior experience in public health in Hawaii, Los Angeles and Yolo County, is in the process of getting the infrastructure of the new organization in place while concurrently getting children aboard and signing them up. His biggest challenge he says, “Is making sure that non of the children fall through the cracks because that would be totally unacceptable to me,” he commented. “It’s inspiring. I can’t imagine a better job”.