The mission of Healthy Kids is to improve the health and well-being of low-income children by providing them with health insurance, thereby ensuring access to comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and mental health services.

A healthy child has a greater chance of growing up to be a healthy adult.

Why Health Insurance?

Health insurance makes both medical and fiscal sense. Uninsured children are five times more likely to be treated in an Emergency Room, the only alternative for the uninsured - and the most expensive.

In contrast, health insurance links families to a primary care physician, reducing the need for costly Emergency Room visits, which are ultimately paid for by consumers and taxpayers. Preventive care saves money by remedying minor problems before they become urgent and expensive.

Two main strategies:

We efficiently enroll children into Medi-Cal and Healthy Families (government-funded programs) through a network of bilingual outreach workers who streamline the application process at schools, clinics, and resource centers.

We launched a new, locally-funded health plan -the Healthy Kids Health Plan-to cover children who are ineligible for Healthy Families or Medi-Cal.

Barriers to Insurance

Health insurance programs for children are cobbled together from several different programs relative to a child's age, family income, and residency status.

Complex enrollment processes are difficult to navigate. Many working families simply don't qualify. Others don't understand the complicated eligibility standards.

The result leaves too many children uninsured, which compromises their chance to achieve a healthy, productive future.

The Solution: Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County

Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County is a Health Plan initially made possible by local government and other agency funding.

It provides comprehensive medical, vision, and dental care, timely vaccinations, mental health and in- and out-patient hospital visits.

Modeled after similar, pioneering programs in Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco Counties, the Plan is endorsed by the Medical Society of Santa Cruz County and leading physicians.

Thanks to the community-wide coalition lead by local health care and other leaders, uninsured children in Santa Cruz County are now efficiently linked to a primary care physician and have a medical home via health insurance.

Whether children come from families who are homeless or from single-parent households that struggle to survive on minimum wage, they will have access to the basic health care they need and deserve.