A Necessary Shot in the Arm : New bill would require private insurers to cover child immunizations

Measles, whooping cough and other illnesses that debilitate and even kill children should be things of the past. Instead they keep cropping up in epidemics, and it’s no wonder. Only 42% of 2-year-olds in Los Angeles and only half in Orange County are fully immunized against childhood diseases. Obviously, additional efforts must be made to increase the numbers of children who are protected.

One thing that would help would be for the Legislature to adopt--and Gov. Pete Wilson to sign--a bill by Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) that would require health insurers to cover the cost of routine immunization for children under 18. Currently, nearly every health maintenance organization (HMO) covers immunizations for youngsters, but only about 45% of other private insurance companies do so.

The measure would extend immunizations to more children. But it would also end up giving some relief to county health departments, which frequently sponsor programs to immunize preschool children.

Many middle-class families take advantage of these free programs when their own insurance coverage won’t pay for immunizations, because private physicians generally charge $300 to $500 for a full set of shots--some of which must be given at intervals in order to be effective. By age 5, of course, nearly every youngster is immunized because California law requires it before a child can enter school.

Umberg’s bill will not address the many other problems involved in achieving full immunization for children, many of whom come from families with no health insurance coverage at all. But it would make a clear statement to insurance companies that, at least in California, immunizations are something they must provide as a routine part of pediatric care.

Umberg’s bill has passed the Assembly and is awaiting action in the Senate, which would do well to provide the votes needed to put the measure on Wilson’s desk. That would give the governor, a strong supporter of preventive health programs, especially for children, another chance to show he is serious about that commitment.