|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
HOME PAGEABOUT VOTE HEALTHCONTACT VHRESOURCES & REPRESENTATIVESINDEX PAGE
|
|
|
Newsletter: April, 2002
(archive)
CHILD HEALTH PROGRAM SAVED Today, Tuesday, April 2nd, the Department of Health Services has been directed by Governor Gray Davis to save the state CHDP program and use it as "an Internet based enrollment system" for Medi-Cal and the Healthy Families Program. This is in contrast to the Governor's original budget proposal to eliminate the program altogether. The press release, soon to be posted at www.dhs.ca.gov, states that an Internet system would be developed by the state "to allow an application for CHDP to also serve as the application for Healthy Families and Medi-Cal. In addition to providing CHDP services, this system could be used to pre-enroll eligible children into Healthy Families and Medi-Cal for 60 days and start the application process" for these programs. The release cites that this would allow the state to get federal matching funds, and enable 760,000 children to receive full health coverage. Most importantly, the new policy would maintain CHDP as a safety-net program. "Children who are not eligible for Healthy Families or Medi-Cal would receive comprehensive coverage during the 60 days, after which they would continue to receive CHDP and limited scope benefits under Medi-Cal." More details are forthcoming and need to be reviewed by vigilant health advocates, including revised numbers for the budget, information on the new application and Internet system, and the maintenance of the CHDP provider network. But the announcement goes in the right direction, of using the program to get more children comprehensive insurance, while maintaining the program to get basic preventative services to the many children who are ineligible. At the bottom of this post is an article from the Sacramento Bee today on the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program. SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE VOTES ON HEALTH CUTS Yesterday, Monday, April 1st, a key Senate budget committee made tough decisions on health care funding. Subcommittee Number 3 on Health, Human Services, Labor, and Veterans Affairs of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee examined the budget issues of the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs. For advocates of the uninsured, there was bad news and there was good news. Senators Wes Chesbro (D-Santa Rosa) and Deborah Ortiz (S-Sacramento) voted to approve many of the Governor's proposed cuts to health care providers, including one cut of particular concern to advocates of the uninsured. * This included a $55 million dollar cut to disproportionate share hospitals (DSH), which are particularly overwhelmed now giving care to the rising numbers of uninsured. These safety-net institutions are the most hard hit by ongoing federal cuts, and these state cuts could force services being scaled back and even hospital closures. This vote makes it much more likely that this devastating cut will be in the final budget. * The committee did reject the Governor's budget proposal to require co-payments from Medi-Cal recipients, many of California's poorest and most disadvantaged families. These payments, ranging from one to five dollars for visits or services, would be deducted from provider reimbursements. The proposal was booked as providing $61.2 million in savings ($30.6 million general fund). Senator Ray Haynes (R-Riverside) abstained on both votes.
Kids health program on danger list
None of Gov. Gray Davis' proposed health cuts has alarmed advocates as much as the elimination of the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program. More than 1 million poor children receive health, vision and dental screenings each year under CHDP, which supporters call "the ultimate safety net program." The proposed cuts drew a standing-room-only crowd to a recent Assembly committee hearing, and Health Access, a coalition of more than 200 health care groups, calls saving the program its No. 1 budget priority. State health Director Diana Bonta acknowledges CHDP is a "very good program." But in an interview she said the state can no longer afford it because of a state budget shortfall of more than $15 billion. The governor's budget depends on substantial cuts to health and welfare programs. And unlike Medi-Cal and the Healthy Families programs, which draw federal funding, California picks up the entire $70 million annual tab it takes to run CHDP. State officials also contend that CHDP duplicates other programs. "The intent is not to leave any child without a medical provider," said Bonta, adding that officials hope to steer more patients into the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs. Bonta said the Davis administration has made tremendous strides by enrolling more than 520,000 children in Healthy Families and thousands more in Medi-Cal. An extra $17.5 million was earmarked in the governor's plan to expand clinic services, she said. But health advocates say CHDP does not represent a duplication of services for the million children who are uninsured and for whom there is no funding in Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. "CHDP is the ultimate safety net program because no one gets turned away," said Dr. Gilbert Simon, a private practitioner who runs the seven Sacramento Family Medical Clinics. Simon said families regularly fall out of Medi-Cal eligibility when they move into a new county, or they are dropped from Healthy Families for falling behind on their co-payments. Navigating the government bureaucracy and re-enrolling can take weeks while illnesses strike without warning, he said. "People who receive this program fall into two categories: Either they're between programs or they're undocumented," Simon said. Simon recognizes that providing government services to the undocumented is a hot-button issue. But he said CHDP provides protection for everyone. "Once you stop inoculating undocumented children, you get widespread epidemics among documented people," said Simon, who estimates the program accounts for only about 3 percent of his revenues. Without CHDP, the state's financially ailing hospital emergency rooms will become even more crowded with uninsured patients, said Anthony Wright, organizing director for Health Access. "We need additional resources to prevent these cuts so an uninsured child can get the immunizations to attend school, and all families have their local public hospitals open in case of an emergency," he said. Wright said CHDP also provides an important "gateway" to more comprehensive health insurance programs. Luis Diaz, whose mother works as a cook, is a typical patient. Diaz is a legal resident, but when he turned 18 last year, he no longer qualified for his mother's job-based health insurance. CHDP covers patients until their 19th birthday. Last week as he was about to join the Jobs Corps, Diaz found himself at the Sacramento Family Medical Clinic in Del Paso Heights being treated for strep throat. "Where else are you going to go when you're sick and don't have any money?" Diaz asked.
--
Newsletter committee:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
