Bill Would Allow Children Enrolled In Free Lunch Programs to Enroll In Healthy Families, Medi-Cal

Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer and teachers' union President Day Higuchi are backing a bill (AB 59) that would provide free health insurance to low-income public school students (Los Angeles Times, 8/25). Under the legislation, students in the free lunch program would be automatically considered eligible for coverage under either Healthy Families, California's CHIP program, or Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program. Under current law, an adult must apply on behalf of the child to secure public health insurance coverage, but the bill would provide that any child enrolled in "specified programs," such as the free lunch program, has met the income eligibility requirements for Healthy Families or Medi-Cal. To qualify for coverage, a child's family must earn no more than 130% of the federal poverty level, or about $22,945 a year for a family of four for Medi-Cal, or no more than 200% of poverty for Healthy Families (AB 59 text, 8/20). For further information on state health policy in California, visit State Health Facts Online.