First 5 Grant Prevents Enrollment Cap for California’s Healthy Families Program
The California Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board on Wednesday halted plans to cap enrollment in Healthy Families after the board received a $16.7 million grant from the First 5 California Children and Families Commission, the Ventura County Star reports. MRMIB administers Healthy Families, California's version of SCHIP (Wilson, Ventura County Star, 12/18).
The grant will cover 96% of the program's $17.2 million budget deficit and allow enrollment to continue through June 2009, the end of the state fiscal year. First 5 administers proceeds of a 1998 voter-approved increase to the state tobacco tax, and the funding is used for early childhood health care and education programs. Capping enrollment in Healthy Families would have resulted in an estimated 162,000 children being placed on a waiting list for coverage (Rojas, Sacramento Bee, 12/18).
