Take Five Minutes to Tell Your Legislators not to Cut Children’s Health!

Behind closed doors, the Big 5 – our four legislative leaders and Governor Schwarzenegger – are working to finalize California’s budget. Among the key items for debate remains the Semi-Annual Reporting proposal for children enrolled in Medi-Cal.

If included in the final budget, the Semi-Annual Reporting proposal would bury children enrolled in Medi-Cal in mounds of paperwork by making them renew their health coverage every 6 months instead of the current policy of annual renewals. This will cause over 250,000 children to lose their health coverage – children who remain eligible for coverage. Nonetheless, the Budget Conference Committee recommended this action to the Big 5.

This cut to children’s health insurance would only exacerbate the struggles working families are facing during this economic downturn. Instead, we should be helping these families weather this storm.

Furthermore, not only will Semi-Annual Reporting hurt an enormous number of California's most vulnerable children, it makes no fiscal sense. The Conference Committee projects only $26 million in savings – in a state budget of more than $103 billion – for this policy change (the Assembly has projected that similar proposals would result in no savings at all). Instead of spending money on health coverage, the state and counties will be spending money on processing additional paperwork and re-enrolling those children unnecessarily dropped from coverage – reducing or eliminating the supposed savings.

California already spends $40 million per year on unnecessarily re-enrolling eligible children who fall through the bureaucratic cracks. Other states, like Texas and Washington, have tried Semi-Annual Reporting and reversed their decision once they saw children's enrollment plummet and precious state resources wasted.

TAKE ACTION NOW! Please tell your legislators to urge the Big 5 to reject the short-sighted Semi-Annual Reporting proposal. With your persuasion, they can influence the Big 5. To find your legislators, click here and enter your zip code. Call your legislators and tell them the savings are illusory and the health of 250,000 children is at stake. Also, feel free to personalize and send this sample letter to the Big 5 (fax numbers are included in the document). Your five minutes’ time can make a world of difference for California’s children.
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On behalf of The Children’s Partnership and the 100% Campaign, I'd like to thank all the MomsRising.org members in California for their steadfast work to ensure that every child has access to health coverage.