United Way of California

Governor's Proposal Could Wipe Out Funding for Healthy Families

Some Kids Could Die as a Result of this Disastrous Proposal

The Governor’s recent budget proposal for fiscal year 2010 -2011 could potentially eliminate funding for California’s successful Healthy Families program, unless the State is able to obtain federal funding, a highly unlikely proposition.  Worst case, without federal funding, 950,000 children could lose health coverage currently available through Healthy Families.  Even if the State receives these unlikely federal funds and Healthy Families is not completely eliminated, the Governor has proposed to still reduce eligibility into the program which forces an estimated 204,000 children to be kicked off Healthy Families.  He further proposes to increase family premiums and eliminate all vision benefits to those who remain on the program.  Eliminating or cutting Healthy Families will hurt our kids and won’t solve the budget crisis.  Here’s why legislators should reject these proposals and find responsible solutions to fully fund Healthy Families to keep kids safe and healthy:

Denying 950,000 California children access to health coverage could have life-long, and life threatening, implications.

• Illnesses that are manageable with proper diagnosis will become much more serious and costly as uninsured children are forced to delay seeking medical care because their parents cannot afford it.  When uninsured children finally do seek medical care in the ER or elsewhere, it may be too late for even the most advanced treatment or the best medical provider to save them.

• Insurance can literally mean life or death for children.  And the data proves it.  A recent Johns Hopkins study shows that children hospitalized without insurance had a 60 percent higher mortality rate than those with insurance.

Eliminating Healthy Families will cause California to lose precious federal dollars, force children into more costly types of care, and devastate the state’s already broken health care system.

• By eliminating Healthy Families, California would lose approximately $800 million in federal funding. 
• The Governor’s plan to eliminate Healthy Families will also increase costs for businesses and families, as the parents of uninsured children are forced to seek more expensive care in emergency rooms, hospitalizations increase, and providers are forced to shift costs to those with private insurance. 

Budgeting is about priorities, and there are few priorities as important as the health and lives of California’s children.

• While the Governor claims that his budget puts children first, it in fact puts the health and well-being of children at grave risk.  Studies prove that children with health insurance do better in school. A teacher cannot teach to an empty desk or to a child who can’t see the blackboard clearly.  (Governor’s budget proposes to eliminate vision benefit.

• Voters expect policymakers to make responsible budget decisions. Investing in our children’s health, through successful programs like Healthy Families, is a wise use of taxpayer dollars.  While we understand the severity of the budget situation, we are disappointed that the Governor is playing politics with the lives of children.

We urge our legislators to do the right thing for California’s children – reject the Governor’s proposed budget that potentially causes 950,000 children to lose their health coverage.

• The Legislature should look for revenue solutions to keep California’s Healthy Families program – a highly successful and fiscally responsible program – fully funded.
  
• Additionally, the Legislature should reject the eligibility reduction proposal that would deny health coverage to 204,000 children and the proposal to eliminate vision benefits and increase the premiums that families must pay.