Creative health care for kids

You have to like the new health insurance plan for children sponsored by SelectHealth. It's not often that an industry associated with bean counting produces a burst of creativity, but offering health-care insurance to children in families that can't afford full coverage required a real leap of imagination. And SelectHealth delivered.

Currently, as many as 90,000 children in Utah do not have health insurance. In providing coverage to children between birth and age 18, premiums can be reduced (to as little as $54 a month for newborns). One reason is because the chances of chronic or catastrophic illnesses often associated with the elderly are not a major issue. The plan also includes a $500-a-year pharmacy benefit that should — according to the company — cover about 95 percent of all children who use it.

Needless to say, the insurance company actuaries have crunched the numbers and found that offering the low-premium policies is a good idea for the insurance company's bottom line, but the fact children can finally get help with illnesses and injuries is really the big plus. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., has made health care for the young ones his priority. He would like to see all children have the medical attention needed, when they need it. No child should have to suffer because parents have to choose between buying food and easing pain. Currently, that is the case in many Utah homes.

We applaud the governor for making uninsured children his personal cause.

And we applaud SelectHealth for looking beyond the facts and figures and finding creative new ways to help those who can't help themselves. We urge other companies to follow suit and come up with innovative solutions of their own.

For more information on the SelectHealth plan, call 1-800-442-3125. Benefits begin in January.