Sacramento Coalition Launches Campaign To Enroll 2,000 Children in Healthy Families by June 30

A coalition of Sacramento politicians, religious leaders and physicians on Monday announced a campaign to enroll 2,000 children in Healthy Families by June 30, the Sacramento Bee reports. Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson said that the campaign, which aims to enroll as many children in the next four months as the program normally enrolls in a year, "is necessary" because of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) proposal to cap enrollment in the program beginning July 1, according to the Bee (Jahn, Sacramento Bee, 2/24). Schwarzenegger's fiscal year 2004-2005 budget proposal would limit enrollment in Healthy Families at 732,300, the level as of Jan. 1, and would increase monthly premiums from $9 to $15 per child for some Healthy Families beneficiaries (California Healthline, 2/19). Dickinson said, "This is not something to be put off until next week or next month, let alone three months from now." Supporters have raised $176,000 for the campaign, which will include advertisements on Spanish- and Hmong-language radio stations; staffing 25 community centers to help parents fill out applications; and providing information to churches, schools and neighborhood organizations. The Bee reports that about 30,000 children in Sacramento County are uninsured (Sacramento Bee, 2/24).

In other budget news, KQED's "California Report" on Thursday reported on Schwarzenegger's proposed reductions to Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for health care providers. The segment includes comments by Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill; Schwarzenegger; Dr. Alan Gelb, chief of emergency department services at San Francisco General Hospital; and Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe (Myers/Shafer, "California Report," KQED, 2/19). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.