[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

Susan Brink at the LA Times has a lengthy overview of the SCHIP children's coverage crisis, from the point of view of one middle-class family that isn't eligible for children's coverage now, but their kids would be covered under the reform proposals by Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislative leadership, if the federal government gets around to funding the program.

More on the political side, there's an important article by Zachery Coile at the San Francisco Chronicle describing the awful choices that California has with regard to the SCHIP discussion: without a resolution in DC, California is on the brink of disenrolling hundreds of thousands of children from the current program.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Big Tobacco's $12 million campaign -- about $3.50 per voter -- to defeat a proposal that would have raised the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $2.20 went down in flames in Oregon yesterday. So what's that mean for the Democratic proposal formally introduced by Speaker Nunez and Senate President pro Tem Perata on Tuesday that relies on a $2 per pack cigarette tax increase?
 
Next to nothing.
 
Measure 50, as the Oregon ballot question was called, directed funds only to children's health care, not the universal health care plan proposed by California Democrats. It's constituency was smaller, and voter turnout miserable (no other major elections on the ballot). And supporters couldn't match the record amount spent by Big Tobacco. The result: a lopsided 59% to 41% defeat.
 
In California, the pro-health care coalition promises to be broader and well-financed when Schwarzenegger agrees to sign on. In addition to labor, there is a strong coalition of big business that's ready to move forward, lead by Steve Burd of Safeway. The strange bedfellows campaign combo of Schwarzenegger/Legislative Democrats/Unions/Business would be a formidable foe for Big Tobacco.

The California initiative would not be the David vs. Goliath fight the Oregon battle was.

There's more...

Image courtesy Regina Nuzzo.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

In the wake of President Bush's veto of SCHIP and the stalemate over the reauthorization of the federal children's coverage program, board members of California's Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB) on Monday took the first step that would enable the state to put children eligible for Healthy Families on a waitlist, or begin disenrolling eligible children from the program altogether.

Emergency Regulations adopted on Monday can be found here. Healthy Families enrolls approximately 830,000 children in families with incomes between 100% and 250% of the federal poverty level ($20,650 to $51,625 for a family of four).

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

According to Congress Daily, House Democratic leaders are meeting tonight with key Republicans to see if it's possible to craft a deal on children's health care, known as "S-CHIP." If the Congressional GOP was smart (I know, that's a stretch), they'd suck it up and make a deal.
 
The kids health bill is a slam dunk winner for Democrats and an election year bonanza. A CBS poll shows 81-15 percent support for the bill. More than 40 Governors, including Gov. Schwarzenegger, wrote in support of the program. (As an aside, passage would also help in California's health care reform effort.) Republican opposition shows their mean spirited side, particularly on an issue that's quickly risen to the top of the list of items that Americans want government to fix.
 
Last week, House Democrats took another vote on the bill, trying to lre moderate Republicans to support it. They still came up short of what's required to overturn President Bush's veto of the legislation. Unlike the Senate -- where there's bipartisan support -- the overwhelming majority of House Republicans continue to oppose the bill (among the California GOP delegation, only Rep. Mary Bono of Palm Springs voted for the override) as too costly.
 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Randy Bayne
The Bayne of Blog's California Notes

Congress voted once again today to reauthorize the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The vote on H.R. 3963 was 265 yeas to 142 nays.

The new version of SCHIP attempts to address concerns raised by President Bush and House Republicans. According to a press release from Congressman Jerry McNerney's office, there are several changes to this bill that did not appear in previous versions:

• SCHIP coverage will be permitted for children only from families who earn less than 300 percent of the poverty level.

• In order to ensure that lowest-income children are covered first, the states will only receive bonus payments for enrolling eligible children in Medicaid, in this case California’s MediCal program.

• The revised bill goes even further that previous versions in clarifying that the legislation does not allow illegal immigrants to get SCHIP:

• If the Social Security Administration cannot confirm an applicant’s citizenship, the applicant will be required to provide the state with additional documentation to confirm eligibility.

by Kim Stevens [courtesy of Party Line]