A federal program that pays for low-income children's health coverage should be expanded to reach thousands more youngsters in Ventura County, a Santa Barbara congresswoman said Wednesday while touring a newly opened health clinic in Oxnard.

Rep. Lois Capps, a Democrat who supports a House bill that would expand coverage, said the 10-year-old program has been a "tremendous success" but twice as many kids could be enrolled nationwide.

"We increased the funding to include as close to 100 percent as possible," she said.

The insurance program covers 6 million children nationwide, close to 800,000 in California and 18,000 in Ventura County.

Known as Healthy Families in California, the program was designed to cover low-income families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford their own health insurance. In California, families with income up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level qualify — $51,625 for a family of four.

Capps said the clock is ticking because the current bill authorizing the program expires Sept. 30. The House, which passed a bill last week, must now reach agreement with the Senate on a bill that President Bush would sign.

"We have a lot of work to do," Capps said during a tour of the Mandalay Bay Women and Children's Medical Group.

Bush has said he would veto the House version of the bill, which many Republicans consider too costly. Bush proposed in his 2008 budget to increase funding by $4.8 billion over five years. He suggested that states were spending too much of the money on adults, rather than the children the program was intended to reach.

Federal tax on cigarettes

Capps' press secretary, Emily Kryder, said the House version would cost $50 billion over five years. The cost would be covered primarily through a 45-cents-a-pack federal tax on cigarettes and cuts to insurers participating in Medicare Advantage, a managed-care program.

Although it is unclear what will finally emerge from Washington, a public health official said the real crisis would come if nothing is approved at all and funding runs out.

"In Ventura County you would have 18,000 kids who would suddenly lose their health insurance," said Linda Henderson, the county's public health director. "Access to healthcare is the most important factor in the well-being of a family."

Healthy Families provides coverage for medical, dental and vision care.

Kryder said more county children could be enrolled because the bill sets aside funds for publicizing the program and enrolling them. In Ventura County, perhaps 11,600 are eligible for Healthy Families but not enrolled, Capps' office estimates.

Wrong perception

Research shows many families know about programs like Healthy Families but believe they have to be on welfare to qualify, according to an analysis by the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation.

Kryder said the bill provides flexibility for states to determine how much a family can make and still remain eligible. That may be a particular issue in states like California and New York, with their high living costs, she said.

"It gives states more flexibility to cover more kids."