Reps. in a push for insurance

In Schiff’s district alone, 13,000 children received coverage through the program in 2007. The reauthorization was expected to create room enough for an additional 4.1 million spots nationwide in the program for a total 11 million children, officials said.

Schiff did not know California’s allocation, but said it should be enough to absorb 55% of eligible children who are not yet part of the program.

Roughly 11,000 children in his district who could be enrolled in Healthy Families have yet to do so, prompting plans for a public service announcement to increase participation, Schiff said.

“If we could reach all 11,000 [children], we could probably cover all 11,000,” Schiff said.

While the numbers of uninsured children in Glendale and Burbank should be alarming, Brown said, it also meant that, on the flip side, roughly 93% of local youth were currently covered.

“The remaining gap should not be an insurmountable challenge to the U.S.,” he said.

Still, Brown said the state would still need to pony up matching dollars to take advantage of the federal stimulus.

It was unclear how much the state would have to match at a time when Sacramento lawmakers continued to squabble over how to close a $42-billion budget gap.

“This is not free money, but it’s generous money,” Brown said.

 JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.