After months of stalemate, a state budget is finally in place. Penny-wise and pound-foolish, the significant cuts to children's health care in the 2008-09 budget will reverse a decade of progress in covering our state's children and cause much costlier problems down the road.

The state Department of Health Care Services estimates that the budget's imposition of semi-annual reporting for children covered by Medi-Cal will result in 175,000 children losing their coverage by 2010 because parents will not be able to keep up with the additional bureaucratic red tape. By the sunset date of December 31, 2011, we estimate that a total of more than 250,000 children will ultimately lose coverage due to this short-sighted policy. In addition, tens of thousands of children in the Healthy Families Program will likely lose coverage as their parents will be unable to afford increases of up to 25 percent in monthly premiums. During this economic downturn, California's working families need more affordable coverage options for their children – not less.

The children's health advocacy community will work to limit the damage caused by this irresponsible budget and hold the Legislature and Governor accountable for their decision to undermine children's coverage. It makes no sense for children to pay for the budget deficit with their health.

At the federal level, join us and families across the state in calling on Congress for reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to occur in early 2009!

As this year's state budget fight comes to a close, a Congressional vote on reauthorization of SCHIP draws near. A robust SCHIP reauthorization is needed by March 2009 to ensure continued funding for California's Healthy Families coverage program.

Although the research and statistics provide the evidence, the real story of the importance of Healthy Families coverage is best told by California families themselves.

Shay Brown, a working parent in Orange County, says:

"Without Healthy Families, I would have never been able to pay for this procedure [to remove pre-cancerous moles on my daughter's arm]. Sometimes I am terrified what would have happened…"

And Kailani Burns, a pre-school teacher from Santa Rosa, explains:

"There's a fear – a fear that you will fail as a parent to protect your
child…no one should have to go through that."

To read their full stories and many others, see Portraits of Healthy Families—Why All California Children Need Health Insurance: Success Stories for Parents, Kids, and the State, a report produced by MomsRising.org, the 100% Campaign, California Children’s Health Initiatives, and United Ways of California. Every family in this booklet took the time to tell us and other children's advocates their story, in the hopes that successful health coverage programs continue to be there for their children and other kids.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! With SCHIP reauthorization on the horizon, Congress has a golden opportunity to make health care accessible and affordable for millions of uninsured children. Contact your Member of Congress, ask for the staff person handling health issues, and tell her/him that California families need a long-term, fully funded SCHIP reauthorization before March 2009 – children's health depends on it!

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.