State Participation in Women’s Health Program ‘Up to the Governor,’ Chronicle Writes
Now that the Legislature has decided to keep $20 million in the state budget to fund the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program for uninsured women, "it's up to [Gov. Gray Davis (D)]" to "hee[d] the priorities of the [Legislature's] Democratic leadership and sig[n] this most important line item in the state budget," a San Francisco Chronicle editorial says (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/27). Earlier this month, it was "uncertain" if the state would join the program, which extends Medicaid coverage for breast and cervical cancer treatment for low-income women identified through a CDC cancer screening program. Davis (D) "pledged" to join the program last year, but health advocates were "concerned" that the program would "fall victim" to the state's "far-reaching budget cuts" (California Healthline, 6/15). On June 23, however, a special legislative committee approved a proposed budget that included funding for the program (California Healthline, 6/25).
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