Starting Off Right

California has a chance to make modest head-way in attempts to keep more babies alive. A bill moving toward the governor’s desk would provide state help for pregnant women whose families have some income but not enough to pay for decent prenatal care. These women, part of the “working poor,” and their infants up to 1 year old could get the checkups and advice that doctors know is essential to delivering healthy babies and helping them flourish.

At present the state’s Medi-Cal program for the poor covers pregnant women whose families earn only a little more than what the federal government considers poverty wages. Pending legislation, SB 2579, sponsored by Sens. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) and David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), would broaden the coverage to women and infants whose families earn almost twice the poverty limit--about $18,000 for a family of three.

The state would be strapped to pay for this expanded coverage alone. Fortunately, health officials and legislators have come up with an innovative solution. They would change the definitions of eligibility so that programs that the state previously has paid for by itself would qualify for federal matching funds. The federal money would help pay the bills for the newly covered women and babies. Other states have tried this approach with success. At present, counties often find themselves paying the bill for these poor families without adequate help from the state.

It’s an important step, but only one of many needed to end a national disgrace: The United States ranks among the worst countries in the industrialized world in infant mortality. A national commission chaired by Sen. Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.) studied the issue and reported recently that 40,000 infants die each year in this country before they reach their first birthday.

Practical experience has demonstrated that if women have regular medical care while they are pregnant, their babies are far likelier to be healthy. Doctors can advise on nutrition and spot possible problems early. Such care reduces premature births that can cause lasting harm, often death, for infants. But nearly 15 million women of child-bearing age have no health insurance to cover such maternity care.

The national commission’s principal recommendation was that every pregnant woman be guaranteed health care. Toward that end, the commission recommended loosening the eligibility standards for government programs so that more poor women would qualify. SB 2579 would enable California, which lags behind 35 other states in offering adequate prenatal care, to take that step. We hope that the Legislature will pass and that Gov. George Deukmejian will sign this bipartisan bill for the betterment of California’s children.