Children's health care advocates say Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) proposals to scale back or eliminate Healthy Families could violate the federal health reform law, KPCC's "KPCC News" reports. Healthy Families is California's Children's Health Insurance Program.
In a briefing last week, Kelly Hardy of the not-for-profit organization Children Now said the reform law requires states to maintain a minimum guarantee of coverage through 2019, when the federal government will start bolstering state health programs. If California fails to maintain the minimum coverage levels, it could lose up to $26 billion in federal funds, Hardy said.
She added that health reform law also prevents California from freezing enrollment for Healthy Families, which it did last year.
Other advocates are calling for the governor to restore funds for outreach workers who help low-income Californians enroll in health care programs (Small, KPCC's "KPCC News," 5/10).
Schwarzenegger is expected to release an updated budget plan by the end of the week (California Healthline, 5/10).