How is Healthy Kids funded?

While Medi-Cal and Healthy Families are insurance programs funded by the federal and state governments, Healthy Kids is not. Healthy Kids must raise money on its own.

For every child we insure under the Healthy Kids program, we must raise $1,000 to provide for comprehensive health coverage. Initial funds for Healthy Kids were received from the following sources:

• The County Board of Supervisors allocated $3,000,000 annually from the Tobacco Settlement Fund
• The Children and Families First Commission allocated $2,000,000 annually to cover children 0 - 5 years old (per the Prop. X mandate)
• The Santa Clara Family Health Foundation contributed $1,000,000
• The City of San Jose allocated a total of $3 million over 3 years
  

Estimates for the number of uninsured children in Santa Clara County are 71,000. Of that number, approximately 2/3 qualify for either the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs. That means there are between 14,000 and 18,000 children in Santa Clara County who are uninsured and eligible for the Healthy Kids program.

So what does this mean? To enroll 14,000 children in Healthy Kids, $14 million per year is needed. The program has been successful in raising about half those funds for the first few years. But to be successful and provide healthcare services to eligible children, much more has to be done.

Recently the Packard Foundation provided a grant of $350,000 for fundraising staff, a significant contribution in reaching our goal. Your own contribution in support of these efforts would be greatly appreciated. It will help us make sure every eligible child in Santa Clara County gets the healthcare they need.

If you would like to support Healthy Kids with a financial contribution of any amount, please visit the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation website at www.healthykidsfund.org or contact Craig Walsh at 408-464-7091.