Earlier this month, California's Legislative Budget Conference Committee voted to severely cut funding to the Healthy Families Program. This budget cut, combined with under-funding in the Governor's May Revise proposal, would leave the Program with a total shortfall of $90 million during the 2009-10 budget year. Based on this proposed shortfall of $90 million, the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB), the body that administers the Healthy Families Program, voted to impose a waitlist starting July 17^th. Unless the Legislature works to fill the enormous shortfall, MRMIB will be forced to deny health coverage to approximately 350,000 children (approximately 30,000 of whom are very low-income infants and five-year olds who will age out of Medi-Cal at ages one and six, respectively, and would - instead of transitioning to Healthy Families - effectively be disenrolled) as well as to disenroll approximately 220,000 currently enrolled children from Healthy Families. Combined, an estimated 570,000 children would be harmed.

 

Click here to find out how many children in your county would be denied Healthy Families coverage if a budget solution is not found.