FOR GENERAL RELEASE:
August 7, 2002

MEDIA CONTACT:
Janie Tyre
Santa Clara Family Health Plan
408-874-1840 direct
jtyre@scfhp.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Healthy Kids Reaches 10,000 Mark
First program of its kind in nation embarks on new fundraising effort

San Jose—August 7, 2002—Leona Butler, CEO of Santa Clara Family Health Plan today announced that enrollment in the Healthy Kids program has surpassed the 10,000 member landmark. Healthy Kids offers comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage to children in low and middle-income families who do not qualify for public programs. At its inception, it was estimated that eighteen thousand children in Santa Clara County qualified for the program. In just nineteen months, since January 2, 2001, ten thousand two hundred and eighty three (57 percent) have been enrolled in Healthy Kids.

According to Butler, by this time next year, more than 14,000 children are projected for Healthy Kids.

Thanks to the efforts of Working Partnerships USA and People Acting in Community Together (PACT), Healthy Kids was able to receive its initial funding from tobacco settlement money, Prop 10 cigarette taxes and a donation from Santa Clara Family Health Foundation. Other large contributions from the David and Lucile Salter Packard Foundation, California Healthcare Foundation, The California Endowment and The Health Trust have allowed Healthy Kids to play a major role in ensuring that children in the County receive the health care services they need.

The cost of insuring one child for one year in the Healthy Kids program is $1,000. In order to pay the premiums, for all the children that are anticipated to enroll in fiscal year 2003 and beyond, additional funds must be raised. Santa Clara Family Health Foundation is soliciting donations from Silicon Valley corporations, foundations and individuals for the Healthy Kids Fund.

One way individuals may help is by supporting the 2nd Annual Healthy Kids promotion at Great America, Raging Waters and Camera Cinemas which began on August 1st and runs throughout the month. This promotion is another example of ongoing corporate support for Healthy Kids. For every ticket sold, with a money saving coupon, the companies will donate a portion to Healthy Kids. Coupons can be found in the San Jose Mercury News, Nuevo Mundo and Viet Mercury throughout the month of August.

About Healthy Kids: Healthy Kids is a comprehensive, low-cost health insurance program that insures children in Santa Clara County whose families earn up to 300% of the federal poverty level and are not eligible for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. A coalition of community groups, including Working Partnerships USA, People Acting in Community Together (PACT), Santa Clara Family Health Plan and Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System, convinced the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, the City of San Jose and the Santa Clara County Children and Families First Commission to commit tobacco settlement and cigarette tax monies to fund Healthy Kids. Santa Clara Family Health Foundation also contributed. Additional funding is being sought from foundations, corporations and individuals.
http://www.healthykidsfund.org.

About Santa Clara Family Health Plan: Santa Clara Family Health Plan (SCFHP) is a public not-for-profit health plan that provides high quality, comprehensive health care coverage for those who do not have access to good health care at an affordable price. SCFHP was chosen by the community to administer the Healthy Kids program and, in Santa Clara County, is the local health plan for Medi-Cal and the designated Community Provider plan for the Healthy Families program. Visit http://www.scfhp.com/.

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