For Immediate Release

January 29, 2010

Contact:  Janet Hogan, Executive Director

First 5 Tulare County

(559) 622-8650

Drop in Prop. 10 Funds causes First 5 Tulare County

to end Healthy Kids program

        VISALIA - The First 5 Tulare County Commission has voted to end its Healthy Kids insurance program Oct. 31, 2010, due to a decline in Proposition 10 tobacco tax revenue and a plateau in enrollment. The decision to stop funding Healthy Kids was prompted by an anticipated $1 million reduction in overall funding for local First 5 Tulare County programs.

         "This was an extremely hard decision for First 5 Commissioners, but we want to stretch our First 5 Tulare County dollars to provide health services for as many children as possible," said Tulare County Supervisor Phil Cox, who also serves as a First 5 Tulare County Commissioner. Cox added that First 5 Tulare County is exploring alternative coverage options to help the children who will lose Healthy Kids insurance.

        Ending the Healthy Kids program will allow First 5 Tulare County to save an estimated $225,000 next fiscal year and $350,000 each year after that. That savings will allow First 5 Tulare County to continue funding 13 other programs, including projects such as Kaweah Delta Health Care District's Pediatric Specialty Care Project; Family HealthCare Network's Kinder Care Dental Project; Tulare Community Health Clinic's Kindergarten Oral Health Assessments; and Sierra View District Hospital and Tulare District Healthcare System's Children's Health Initiative programs.

        "First 5 has been remarkably effective in funding programs that make a difference in the lives of children in Tulare County," said Kaweah Delta CEO Lindsay K. Mann. "Today Kaweah Delta has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with modern technology and outstanding physicians and nurses to provide care to premature infants.  At the Exeter Health Clinic children can receive specialty pediatric services in areas such as cardiology, gastroenterology, and infectious diseases.  These services have been made possible through the support of First 5."

        First 5 Tulare County is the second of 30 agencies throughout California that decided to end their Healthy Kids program as Proposition 10 funds decline. First 5 Tulare County weathered a 5 percent drop in Proposition 10 proceeds in its fiscal year 2008-09, and the agency is bracing for another 14 percent drop by June 30, First 5 Executive Director Janet Hogan said. While several variables are impacting tobacco tax collections, an increased federal tobacco tax in April 2009 has resulted in significant funding reductions, Hogan said.

        First 5 Tulare County funds and administers Healthy Kids, a comprehensive health insurance program providing medical, dental, and vision coverage to children ages zero through five. The Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency administers the Healthy Kids program that serves children ages six through 18 with funding from charitable foundations (also projected to end Oct. 31). Healthy Kids has helped children whose family incomes exceed program restrictions of Medi-Cal and Healthy Families or who were otherwise ineligible for those programs.

        Since insurance coverage began in March 2006, Healthy Kids has insured an average of 268 children ages zero through five each month, with a high enrollment of 387 children in February 2007 and a low enrollment of 217 children in February 2010, Hogan said.

        First 5 Tulare County was formed after California voters passed Proposition 10 in 1998 which added a 50-cent per pack tax on tobacco products. First 5 Tulare County is an independent public agency led by a Commission of seven people appointed by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors. It coordinates tobacco tax funding to help children ages zero through five years old, so that when they enter school they are healthy and ready to learn. First 5 Tulare County accomplishes its mission by partnering with local organizations and agencies to develop or link existing programs that help families and children. For more information, contact Janet Hogan at 622-8650 or visit first5tc.org.