| "Buried in the debate about the nation's health care crisis are thousands of children in King County who lack dental coverage -- a problem that generates behavioral issues in school and at home, as well as bad teeth." "Last year, roughly 7,000 children in King County didn't qualify for some type of public or private dental insurance, according to state data. " "Christopher Delecki, dental director at the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic in Seattle's Central District, estimates that 40 percent of children who visit the 34-year-old clinic have extensive tooth decay, which means half of their teeth are rotting." "To help combat the problem, the Washington Dental Service, a Seattle non-profit with 2,200 dentists statewide and $750 million in annual revenue, gave the county $1 million Thursday. " ""This is a preventable illness," King County Executive Ron Sims said, adding that King County is "one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. ... Every child should be covered."" "The money is now part of King County's Children's Health Initiative, a new effort to make it easier for children to get health care. Only last fall, Group Health Cooperative committed $1 million to improve overall physical care." "Managers are working out allocating the latest money, though they expect to use it to find children in need and deliver care." "Even children with coverage often struggle to find dentists to accept their state or federal payments, says King County health policy liaison Rachel Quinn. " "The gifts are part of a broader state and county effort to cover every child in the state. For example, Sims plans to match the donations with county money for outreach and better access to care." " Only last month Gov. Chris Gregoire approved a law to give an additional 38,000 children health care coverage by 2009. Gregoire and the Legislature want to cover every child
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