One of the many super smart cuts that was made under both the budget deal was the slash and burn approach to Healthy Families, the children’s health insurance program that is heavily subsidized. Add in some bonus cuts from the line item vetoes, and you have a recipe for well, this:

A state board voted Thursday to begin terminating health insurance for more than 60,000 children Oct. 1 as a result of the budget amendments signed into law recently by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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If additional funds are not found, board officials said, the program could ultimately drop 669,296 children in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2010. Currently, 921,000 people age 18 and younger are enrolled in Healthy Families. (LA Times 8/14/09)

There is the possibility of First 5 tossing in a few bucks, but that, by law, must be limited to children 5 and under.  That doesn’t address the far more broad aims of the program of ensuring that all children can be allowed to be children.  Living your teenage years while trying to avoid getting sick or injured isn’t a way to grow up.  Ever try playing high school football while trying to avoid getting hurt? Or being involved in physical outdoor activities?

Beyond the fact that we are tossing aside a slew of federal dollars that we can’t pull down, this creates some really crazy long term cost implications. These kids will either use costly emergency rooms where the bills will eventually end up at the state house doors.  Or they will simply avoid doctors, a rather imprudent idea for teenagers. We end up with an American populace that is less healthy, less able to learn the skills that we need them to compete in the 21st Century, and less able to help turn around the economy.

While the federal government is trying to expand SCHIP, California is going the opposite direction.  There have been some seemingly serious rumors of putting Healthy Families on the ballot, although nothing has reached the ballot language step. There would almost certainly have to be some sort of funding source, probably tobacco taxes. So, yet one more silo tacked on the books.  No matter how important the goals, and I would almost certainly support this initiative, we are also creating additional process hurdles to real reform of the dysfunctional system in Sacramento.