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Assemblyman Working Toward Universal Health Care for State’s Kids
By
Cheryl Scott
Bulletin Staff
Writer
Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally of the 52nd District has introduced
a bill that would ensure health care coverage for all children in the
state.
AB 1 is an answer to the 2005 veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
of AB 772, which would have provided universal health care for children.
The legislation also builds upon the work of Californians for Healthy
Kids, a bipartisan network of teachers, business leaders, parents, health
care providers, faith leaders, labor representatives and children’s
advocates focused on insuring every child in 22 California counties.
Dymally’s bill would be funded by state and federal money and would
not call for a tax increase. “I plan to fully engage in discussions
this year on broader health care reform,” said Dymally. “But
if that debate is not fruitful, we still have to cover children. This
bill is a practical solution that will save taxpayer dollars and help
insure our children.”
The bill would be limited to poverty-level families. Dymally admitted
that it would not benefit uninsured middle-class families, but said that
it’s a start on a solution to the health care crisis in the state.
The number of uninsured children in the state has reportedly decreased
by approximately 500,000 during the last three years because of the effectiveness
of public insurance programs, according to the UCLA Center for Health
Policy Research.
“But nearly one million children are still uninsured,” said
Dymally, who attributes the current crisis to the fact that most people — and
legislators — who are insured assume that the problem will never
affect them. “The majority of middle-class people are insured.
But as more companies are cutting back on health care benefits,
the problem will extend further into the middle class.”
An increasing number of middle-class families are not covered by
employer coverage and can no longer afford to purchase insurance. Many
low-income families find themselves stymied by long, complex applications
and confusion created by myriad health programs.
Adding to the problem is the fact that uninsured patients frequently
are treated in hospital emergency rooms, and the hospitals are not reimbursed
for their costs. “That’s what the problem was at Martin Luther
King Hospital,” said Dymally. “So many people came through
their emergency room who were unable to pay that the hospital simply
could not remain solvent.”
Reimbursement of emergency room treatment comes from the federal
government. “But it’s a policy, not a law,” he said. “How
much funding will be sent to the local hospitals is an administrative
decision. During the Clinton administration this area received $9 million.
Now we receive $2 million. And we don’t know if we will keep receiving
that amount.”
Dymally believes there is a lack of legislative commitment to universal
health care coverage because at some point it has to be paid for. Recognizing
the state’s current budget constraints, the legislation focuses
on improving the efficiency of existing publicly funded state insurance
programs. Work has been done to modernize and simplify children’s
enrollment in coverage.
“The majority of uninsured children already qualify for either
Healthy Families or Medi-Cal, but they are not enrolled,” he said. “We
need to stop spending public funds creating needless bureaucracy
that keeps people out. AB 1 will simplify the process of applying for
health
insurance and bring California closer to universal children’s coverage.”
Dymally represents the diverse 52nd Assembly District, which includes
Compton, Watts-Willowbrook, Paramount, North Long Beach and South Los
Angeles.
The 80-year-old Legislative Black Caucus chair was sworn in to
office as a member of the California State Assembly for the last time
on Dec. 4 in Sacramento with his wife, Alice, by his side.
He was re-elected to the State Assembly in 2002, but he will be termed out of
that office in 2008.
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