Business Journals
May 13, 2005

She built model program to insure county's youngsters

By Sonali Vepa Aatresh

Although Leona Butler is at the helm of a large health maintenance organization in Campbell, her modus operandi is a strong reminder that grassroots strategies are often powerful means to attain goals.

As CEO of Santa Clara Family Health Plan (SCFHP), a nonprofit HMO (health maintenance organization) that has become the model for nearly 30 other counties statewide, Ms. Butler has galvanized the support of community groups — from city
councils and schools to churches and nonprofits — to provide health insurance to Santa Clara County children who otherwise would go without healthcare altogether.
Brimming with optimism about the possibility of providing health coverage to everybody in Santa Clara County, Ms. Butler’s forte in rallying the community is paying off. The community health plan for the Medi-Cal managed care and the
Healthy Families public insurance program boasts a recordbreaking membership of 86,000 people in eight years of operation.

All of a sudden, in 2001, the floodgates opened. As we began targeting children to enroll into programs for health coverage... we uncovered 72,000 eligible children out of which 54,000 were eligible for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, leaving the remainder for coverage through the Healthy Kids program,” Ms. Butler explained. Since the program’s inception in 2001, SCFHP has received 96,000 applications.

In a public health career spanning four decades, Ms. Butler has worked in virtually every healthcare sector — from medical center to health center, legislative staff member for Medi- Cal to working with PPOs (preferred provider organizations) and HMOs. She is a San Jose resident and has spent the bulk of her career in the Bay Area.

Ms. Butler led the collaborative effort by community groups such as PACT (People Acting in Community Together), community leaders, politicians, and consultants to develop the CHI initiative and Healthy Kids insurance program within six months. She knew how to start such a program because of her legislative work in Scramento in the ‘80s and remembered well that she had learned there was a dire need for a bridge between the health care system and undocumented families and their children who needed coverage. There also was a need for coverage of people who earned between 250 to 300 percent of the federal poverty level and thus were not eligible for the existing programs, yet could not afford coverage elsewhere.

SCFHP Marketing Director Mary Ellen Sweeney revealed the secret for Ms.Butler’s success: “City and county officials have tremendous respect and confidence for Leona and know that healthcare is in good hands.

Ms. Butler has been showered with many honors and awards, including the California legislature’s designation as the local “Woman of the Year.” Ms. Butler
strives to combine her philanthropic activities with fundraising for the Healthy Kids program, such as her creation of the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation in 2001 which oversees funding for Healthy Kids. This past year, SCFHF raised $13 million, including tobacco settlement money, which provides coverage for 13,000 children.

As she moves among her daily activities at news conferences, legislative hearings, radio spots, and community outreach meetings, she says she is inspired by her motto in life of “carpe diem” — seize the day. She is keenly cognizant of opportunities that can grow into future realities for her HMO.

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