Vote Health Donor Alert

Due to serious problems with our fiscal sponsor, Neighbor to Neighbor Education Fund, Vote Health can no longer accept check donations made out to the Ed Fund. Please make checks out to Vote Health during our fundraising drive while we look for another fiscal sponsor. While checks to Vote Health are not tax-deductible, the funds generated can be used far more flexibly. Those of you who have already sent donations in the name of N2N Ed Fund will get letters in the next two weeks regarding the status of your contribution. We are grateful for the generosity of those who have made donations to date and truly regret this inconvenience.

If any of you know of non-profit fiscal sponsors who are willing to take on projects with small budgets, like Vote Health, please let us know at Info@VoteHealth.net .

Exec Committee Nominations in January

At our Jan. 24 general membership meeting we will entertain nominations for Vote Health officers and executive committee members. An elections committee of non-candidates will be appointed to conduct the election process, which is concluded by a vote at the February 28 membership meeting. Remember, you can vote if you sign up/pay dues at the door, but you can be nominated for office only if you have been a Vote Health member since October 24, 2004, per our bylaws. The term of office is two years. Don't be shy ­ you can nominate yourself!

Health Care Cost Growth Slows ­ as Disadvantaged Lose Benefits

A report issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services indicates that health spending rose 7.7% in 2003, down from 9.3% in 2002. Were these costs reduced by capping drug prices or limiting profiteering by hospital chains? No, the rate of increase dropped because 34 states tightened eligibility and restricted benefits for Medicaid. Services to the poor, the elderly and the disabled were also curbed by the expiration of supplemental funding provisions to Medicare providers. Despite these cuts, the Bush administration is expected to propose further reductions (SF Chronicle, 01/11/05, Business Section)

Governor Targets Health Care for Budget Reductions

As expected, Schwarzenneger has proposed cuts in spending for education, pensions, welfare, Medi-Cal and state employee health benefits. He refuses to consider increasing taxes on corporations and his wealthy friends, preferring to slash benefits and services for millions of vulnerable Californians.

Medi-Cal currently provides health care coverage for 6.6 million children, parents, seniors and people with disabilities (state funds are matched with federal dollars). The governor proposes to impose premiums on more than half a million recipients in families earning over the ridiculously low federal poverty level (family of 4 at $1571 per month!), $4/month per child and $10/month for each adult. 110,000 will lose their coverage entirely. Nonpayment of premiums for two months will result in termination of benefits. Dental benefits will be cut, forcing 125,000 adults to pay out-of-pocket for dental treatment, and those covered will be limited to $1000 per year.

Hundreds of thousands of seniors, people with disabilities and families will be forced into managed care plans that may restrict access to needed care, including the ability to see their current doctors and specialists. This Medi-Cal "redesign" package also includes a "hospital financing" restructuring which will have significant impacts on public and other safety-net hospitals, although specific details are not yet available. Both of these two proposals could hurt the Alameda County Medical Center.

The governor's proposed "budget reforms" would institute across-the-board cuts when spending would outpace revenues. This would be devastating to health care programs which require more spending during times of economic downturns ­ when revenues go down.

Other hits to "special interests" not on the governor's donor list include eliminating state and federal cost-of-living adjustments for the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) program as well as limiting programs providing financial assistance to low-income seniors and persons with disabilities. And he wants to use federal funds to provide prenatal services to some low-income and pregnant immigrant women ­ the feds would require the state to enroll the fetus, not the mother!

While the governor touts a new discount prescription drug program, California Rx, for uninsured individuals with incomes under 300% of the federal poverty level, participation by drug manufacturers would be voluntary.

Those who provide services to vulnerable residents are at risk as well. In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) workers, who help the elderly and persons with disabilities in their homes, would have their state share of cost reduced to minimum wage ­ currently the state pays up to $10.10 per hour for provider wages and benefits.

New state workers would also lose the state's contributions toward health care premiums until they have passed probation. Much worse, the governor proposes drastic changes to all public sector pension plans along the lines of the Bush administration's drive to privatize Social Security.

For more details, check the California Budget Project's web site at www.cbp.org as well as the much briefer summary on Health Access' site at www.healthaccess.org .

Next steps: Health advocates and other analysts will be reviewing the budget proposals in upcoming weeks and months to determine both details and impacts. What is obvious, however, is that cuts to education and social services will affect many of the same vulnerable people who are impacted by the health cuts.

Budget subcommittee hearings will occur in March, April and May, when health policy committees will also be looking at the Medi-Cal redesign proposals. Progressives in the legislature have vowed to fight these heartless and vindictive cuts and will need our support. Stay tuned!

Vote Health Supports Community Clinics

The Board of Supervisors acted on Dec. 14 to disburse the 25% of Measure A funds that isn't allocated specifically to the Medical Center. We followed up our letter and testimony at several public hearings last fall in support of the Alameda Health Consortium's request that they receive 10% of the entire Measure A funds. Unfortunately the private hospitals lobbied vigorously for a very large portion of these limited funds, and the community clinics got shorted. However, the Supes did agree that the clinics would be first in line for extra funds coming in over the $20 million that they were allocating on Dec. 14. Detailed plans for how the allocations will be spent, with an eye to geographical distribution, are forthcoming, and the Supes specified that they must approve those proposals as well.

Vote Health also supported additional funding for ACMC to pick up costs it must pay for outside medical providers when they can't perform the services in-house, but the Board didn't include this request. It is still possible that ACMC's costs in this area could be addressed in ongoing negotiations between the Board of Supes and the ACMC Board of Trustees.

Newsletter committee:
Kay Eisenhower, Jim Forsyth.
Our thanks to CA Nurses Association for their help in producing this newsletter.