Press Room

American Academy of Pediatrics California, Chapter 2, Pediatric News

Kathleen Hamilton, Director of Sacramento Governemental Affairs, recounts the status of the Healthy Families Program transition after the implementation of Phase 1. Challenges encountered in the first phase affecting children's access to health care provide a cautionary tale as the final stages are implemented.

Download the full article here. 

Wendy Lazarus, Founder and Co-President of The Children's Partnership, releases a statement on behalf of a coalition of leading children's health advocates in California. Despite taking steps in the right direction on Medi-Cal expansion to more than a million Californians, Governor Brown's proposal misses the opportunity to make smart investments in children's health. 

"The Governor’s proposal extends a critical revenue source – the Managed Care Organization assessment – but does not explicitly invest any revenues in 2013-14 and beyond to improve children’s health care, as has been the case historically. A portion of those revenues should address the health care needs of children, which have recently been put at risk through the transition from Healthy Families to Medi-Cal without sufficient planning or investment. 

The Governor also continues pending cuts to payments to Medi-Cal providers – already among the lowest in the nation – that will further undermine access to care for California’s children and families. California policymakers must develop a budget that ensures that all children in Medi-Cal are able to see a health care provider when they need one.” 

Download the full statement here.

California Health Report

Concern over accessibility to dental care for children on Medi-Cal brings to surface the need for alternative solutions to increase access. "One of the solutions is to bring dental care to children where they are," says Kattlove. "School-based programs are very successful in addressing access issues."

Read the full article here . 

Santa Monica, CA - Wendy Lazarus, Founder & Co-President, joins a broad coalition of health care officials and advocates for a press event in Los Angeles to urge state elected officials to move quickly to expand Medi-Cal.  If legislation to expand Medi-Cal is not signed into law in the next 6 weeks, over one million low-income, working people will be left without coverage as healthcare reform is implemented. For each month of delay, California will lose hundreds of millions of federal dollars.

From Ms. Lazarus' statement, "After decades of work to secure health coverage and care for California’s 10 million children, we are finally only 188 days away from when the doors to that coverage will open thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The Medi-Cal expansion is an indispensable piece to ensure that when families start to enroll on October 1, 1.4 million low-income parents and childless adults will not be left out. Although the Medi-Cal expansion would provide coverage for adults, it also affects millions of children." 

Download Ms. Lazarus' full statement and event press release. 

Huffington Post Blog

Wendy Lazarus outlines the main "ingredients" for succes that matter the most for kids under the ACA.  "Our collective job over the months ahead is to make good decisions on behalf of the millions of children in this country who are not at these decision-making tables but whose well-being -- and even lives -- depend on making the right choices."

Download the full piece here.

The Children''s Partnership joins a coalition of child advocates to ensure that children with autism do not lose access to critical behavioral health services after their transition from Healthy Families to Medi-Cal. “The state needs to address this urgent situation immediately and ensure children in Medi-Cal receive medically necessary behavioral health therapies,” said Wendy Lazarus, Founder & Co-President of The Children’s Partnership. “Because of this serious problem, the state should not move forward with any future phases of the Healthy Families transition until the issue is resolved and continuity of care can be assured.”

Download the full press release here. (pdf)

EdSource

Findings from TCP's Dental Brief, Fix Medi-Cal Dental Coverage: Half of California Kids Depend On It, are highlighted in this article to support the need for schools to provide a dental health safety net. As acces to dental care through Medi-Cal remains an obstacle for low-income children, dental problems keep these kids out of school and affects school performance. 

Download the article here.

HealthyCal.org

California needs to act now to prevent a severe dental crisis. “School based programs are very successful in addressing access issues,” says Kattlove. Also, training other medical professionals in preventative oral care and introducing innovations such as teledentistry are alternate solutions offered.  

Download the article here.