If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
California’s Healthy Families program is most definitely working. Each year, the Healthy Families Program provides approximately 875,000 children from low to moderate-income families the health coverage they need to stay healthy and succeed in school.
Unfortunately, Governor Brown’s budget proposal is trying to fix something that's just not broken. His proposal calls for eliminating the Healthy Families Program altogether and shifting all of the children now covered to the state’s Medi-Cal program by June 2013. Although these children would not lose coverage per se, this dramatic change may make it more difficult for these children to see a doctor when they need one by increasing demand on the small number of doctors who currently treat children enrolled in Medi-Cal.[1]
What?!
Tell Governor Brown and your California state legislators: “Hold on a minute! The Healthy Families Program is working and should not be eliminated.” http://action.momsrising.org/letter/protectkids/
The Governor’s Budget is not a done deal, so we must act quickly! California legislators are deciding *right now* how to proceed on the budget and they need to know that their constituents oppose eliminating the Healthy Families Program.
This program doesn't have to be eliminated. There’s a better way. As an alternative to eliminating the Healthy Families Program altogether, a broad coalition of health providers and organizations are proposing that California transfer only a small portion of kids (those whose families live at or up to 133% of federal poverty) over to the Medi-Cal program in the short-term. This alternate approach would allow the state to identify and resolve any issues related to transferring children. Transferring this small group first is an alternative that is supported by recent analyses from both the non-partisan state Legislative Analyst's Office and the highly-respected economic and social policy research organization the Urban Institute. [2,3]
Legislative leaders who are crafting the state’s budget legislation now are interested in this alternative proposal. But they need an extra push – your support! – to fully support this common sense proposal.
Contact your California legislators now using our easy letter writing tool: http://action.momsrising.org/letter/protectkids/
California cannot risk making such a dramatic change until and unless the state knows that these changes will lead to kids getting comparable care to what they received in Healthy Families and nothing less. The phased-in approach recommended by children’s heath experts will allow the state to assess the impact on children’s access to care before making broader sweeping changes. We can not afford to experiment with the health of even one child.
Together we can urge our legislators to do the responsible thing for our children and our state.
(Thanks to our colleagues at the 100% Campaign who are leading on this issue on behalf of kids!)
[2] The 2012-13 Budget: Analysis of the Governor's Healthy Families Program Proposal: http://action.momsrising.org/go/1869?ak_proof=1&t=8&akid=.1992278.-STAMu
[3] The Future of Healthy Families: Transitioning to 2014 and Beyond, by Urban Institute: http://action.momsrising.org/go/1870?ak_proof=1&t=10&akid=.1992278.-STAMu
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