By Denise Jennex
The California Teachers Association (CTA) and The California Association of Health Plans (CAHP) recognize the correlation between a child’s health status and school performance. “Teachers understand there is a clear relationship between a lack of health care and school performance,” said Wayne Johnson, CTA President. “We can’t teach to an empty desk, but we also know every kid deserves a healthy chance to learn. While comprehensive and integrated school-based efforts to enroll uninsured children have been endorsed by government and private agencies, teachers, the most trusted line of communication to parents, have not been meaningfully engaged in health outreach. The goal of the Teachers for Healthy Kids Project is to address this situation by promoting teachers as information resources that can enhance parent awareness and lead to increased student access to health care.”
CTA and CAHP have teamed up to bring a low-cost health insurance option to thousands of the state’s needy children. The new, collaborative “Teachers and Health Plans for Healthy Kids” outreach effort, developed by the two associations and supported by a $547,000 grant from The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, will include two major components. Health plans will educate public school teachers about public health insurance programs available to low-income children and their families and work with teachers in devising outreach strategies.
The Healthy Families Program is an insurance program that contracts with a variety of health plans in the state so children under the age of 19 can receive complete medical, dental and vision care for $4 to $9 a month (to a maximum of $27 for all children in a family). There is no co-payment for preventative services such as immunizations. There is a $5 co-pay for non-preventative services. A family of four can earn $44,136 and be eligible. The Medi-Cal program covers family members including parents with incomes at or below the federal poverty level or $18,100 per year.
There are approximately 1 million uninsured children in California, more than 300,000 in Los Angeles County alone, who are eligible for but not enrolled in, either the state’s low cost Healthy Families program or the no-cost Medi-Cal for families program.
This is a wonderful opportunity for teachers to reach out to the community, as well as a way for parents to get involved in their child’s education.
For more about Healthy Families coverage, visit www.healthyfamilies.ca.gov.