Democrats Urge Expanding Health Care for Poor Families

Facing the loss of more than $590 million in federal aid, the Legislature’s two top Democrats called Friday for expansion of an underused health care program for poor families.

The proposed expansion of the Healthy Families program was one of several high-profile issues attracting lawmakers’ attention as the Senate and Assembly grind toward adjournment of their two-year session next Thursday.

Other developments included final passage of bills to extend the statute of limitations on the filing of Northridge earthquake claims by one year and to allow police and firefighters to settle labor disputes through binding arbitration.

The Healthy Families program has been touted as a way to help California, which has more uninsured people than any other state, cover the health care needs of its poor children.

But the 3-year-old program has failed to attract the large numbers of California children that were expected to enroll. So officials must return much of the money allocated by Washington--an embarrassment for a state with more than 5 million uninsured residents, 2 million of them children. Only 323,000 children now participate in Healthy Families.

“I think it is an outrage that we have half a billion dollars that we are sending back East because we are not using it,” said Senate leader John Burton (D-San Francisco).

Hoping to take advantage of the money to address the problem of uninsured Californians, Burton and Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) are promoting a new approach: offering coverage to parents as well as children.

Such a substantial change would require special approval from the federal government, but federal officials have notified California that they will entertain such a waiver.

Burton and Hertzberg are pushing for Gov. Gray Davis to pursue the idea immediately. The Assembly, led by Hertzberg, adopted a nonbinding resolution Friday urging the governor to support them.

However, California would have to provide a third of the money, or about $128 million, needed for the expansion. State Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier) has introduced legislation to spend California’s share of the national tobacco settlement entirely on health care.

“I think we have a window of opportunity from the federal government,” Escutia said.

Hertzberg said he is “intrigued” by the idea of using the tobacco money to expand Healthy Families.

Davis, who has advocated more general use of the money, vetoed similar legislation last year.

Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for Davis, said the governor had not seen the Legislature’s resolution but reported that he plans to “review all options that will prevent the state from losing the federal dollars designated for Healthy Families.”

She noted that in his state budget, the governor earmarked money from the tobacco settlement to beef up the Healthy Families program and had included “working poor” families in the state’s Medi-Cal health care plan that serves the needy.

A 2nd Chance for Quake Claims

Following a heated debate, the Senate on Friday sent Davis a controversial bill that would give certain victims of the 1994 Northridge earthquake a second chance to file claims against their insurers.

The measure, which would take effect Jan. 1, would extend the statute of limitations for one additional year. Backers of the bill said it probably would apply to several hundred people. A spokeswoman for Davis said the governor has no position on the bill.

Burton, who introduced the bill (SB 1899), said it would provide relief to policyholders who were “screwed” by their insurers.

He said many Northridge victims were misled by their insurers over the extent of damage caused by the devastating quake. When they learned the truth, he said, the statute of limitations had expired and the policyholders were prohibited from filing claims.

Republicans called the bill “premature.” They said newly confirmed state Insurance Commissioner Harry Low should be given time to work out any settlements he can without intervention from the Legislature.

Low was confirmed Thursday to replace former Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, a Republican, who left office last month in a scandal over his treatment of insurance companies accused of mishandling Northridge claims.

State Sen. Ray Haynes (R-Riverside) denounced the plan as an invitation for trial lawyers to get extra work. He said a class action suit covering 12,000 people already has been filed in the expectation that Davis will sign the bill into law.

Burton dismissed charges that the Legislature was acting hastily. “We should not stop trying to help the people who got hurt,” he said. “If Chuck had done the job, we wouldn’t be here [debating the bill.]”

The Assembly also approved and sent to Davis a bill (AB 1331) to strip the name of disgraced former state Sen. Alan Robbins, who pleaded guilty to racketeering and tax evasion charges, from the title of every law bearing his name.

The bill’s author, Assemblyman Lou Papan (D-Millbrae), called Robbins a “gross” and “embarrassing” discredit to the Legislature. He said erasing Robbins’ name from laws would help destroy Robbins’ history as a lawmaker.

Robbins represented the San Fernando Valley for nearly two decades until he resigned in 1991 and went to prison for 20 months.

Assemblyman Dick Floyd (D-Wilmington), who served in the Legislature with Robbins, criticized his colleagues for supporting the bill. He called them “sanctimonious” and “vindictive.”

In a separate action, the Senate voted final legislative approval to a labor-sponsored bill that would establish binding arbitration to settle local labor disputes of police officers and firefighters.

Under the bill (SB 402), which Davis has indicated he will sign, issues such as wages, overtime, salaries, pensions and health benefits would be subject to final arbitration by an appointed panel.

The panel would be appointed when the two sides reached a deadlock. Local government officials would pick one member, labor would choose the second and both appointees would select a neutral third member.

Findings of the arbitrator would be final. Police and fire labor unions for more than 30 years have pressed for such a system statewide. At least 21 cities have their own binding arbitration systems.

Labor leaders have pursued arbitration as a way to overcome contract deadlocks that sometimes take years to resolve. Elected local officials generally oppose it because it can result in the expenditure of taxpayer funds over which city councils and county boards of supervisors have no control.

The bill by Burton was sent to Davis on a 23 to 12 vote.