Campaign Update
Thursday, April 24, 2008

April 29th Press Event & Legislative Briefing on
Budget Proposals that Put the Health of 500,000 Children at Risk

YOU ARE INVITED! To help educate decision-makers about how the Governor's budget would put children's health at risk, the 100% Campaign and PICO California are sponsoring a press event and legislative briefing on Tuesday, April 29.

Experts from Washington State will describe how their state's switch to semi-annual status reporting drastically reduced child enrollment in their Medicaid program and increased state costs due to red tape. Dr. Gerry Fairbrother will discuss the negative impacts of “churning”— the process of disenrolling and re-enrolling eligible children in health coverage—on children's health and state costs. Please join us!

Increased Medi-Cal Red Tape Reduces Children's Health Coverage:
Family Stories & Other States' Experiences Shed Light on Quarterly Status Reports (QSRs)

Tuesday April 29, 2008
California State Capitol, Room 127

Press Briefing 10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
California families speak about the impact of proposed budget cuts
and administrative changes on their children's health care

Legislative Briefing 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Experts discuss the consequences of quarterly and midyear status reporting:
experience from Washington state and evidence from a recent study on Medi-Cal

Speakers:

UPDATE ON BUDGET ACTION: As you know, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services rejected Governor Schwarzenegger's 2008-09 budget proposal to add more red tape for families enrolled in Medi-Cal. According to the Administration's own Department of Health Care Services, this Quarterly Status Reporting (QSR) proposal would cause 471,500 children to drop off of Medi-Cal over time, primarily for reasons other than a lack of eligibility. In the next few months, the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services will decide whether to join the Assembly in rejecting this unwise budget proposal.

NEW RESOURCE: Families USA has updated its tool that calculates the costs of Medicaid cuts to a state's economy. For example, if California cut funding for Medi-Cal by $100 million, the state would lose $252 million in business activity and $90 million in salaries and wages.

UPDATED FACT SHEETS: Please see our updated budget fact sheets which detail:

• The damaging effects of Quarterly Status Reports,
• The disenrollment and adverse health impacts caused by increased cost-sharing in Healthy Families,
• The lasting consequences on children's health in every county, and
• Six other fact sheets related to children's health and the 2008-09 budget

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD: To communicate with policymakers about QSRs and other budget proposals that would seriously impact children's health, contact the State Assembly and Senate Budget Committees, legislative leadership, and your legislators. Take three minutes NOW to personalize and send this sample letter to your Legislators.

STAY TUNED: We will keep you up-to-date as the Legislature debates the budget. The Governor's May Revise budget proposal is expected in mid-May.

For more information, please contact Tim Morrison at tmorrison@childrennow.org or 510-763-2444 x122.

The 100% Campaign, a collaborative effort of The Children's Partnership, Children Now and Children's Defense Fund, was created to ensure that all of California's children obtain the health insurance they need to grow up strong and healthy.
www.100percentcampaign.org

The PICO California Project is the united effort of 20 California congregation-community organizations affiliated with the PICO National Network. Collectively, we represent 350 congregations and 400,000 families statewide and are actively organizing in over 70 cities in Northern and Southern California.
www.picocalifornia.org