Sacramento, CA (May 14, 2015) – In response to California Governor Edmund G. Brown’s revised 2015-16 budget proposal, Kathy Dresslar, Sacramento Governmental Affairs Director for The Children’s Partnership, released the following statement:
“The Children’s Partnership applauds the leadership of Governor Brown and the Legislature for the steps they have taken to put our economy on the right track, which is critically important for the state’s kids, generally. This presents an opportunity to invest wisely in strategies we know will improve the health and well-being of California’s children.
“We are particularly pleased about the inclusion of a California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-wage workers in California, a long overdue recognition that California’s economic recovery has not been experienced by all Californians. No other single issue impacts children’s health outcomes more than growing up in poverty. With more than one in four California children still living in poverty, even as our economy booms, a state EITC is a targeted way to reward the hard work their parents have invested in boosting our state’s economy. We look forward to working with the Administration and Legislature to ensure this credit is refundable, which will help the very lowest wage earners who earn too little to pay taxes.
“We also appreciate that the budget includes necessary funds to provide health coverage for low-income families across California, including the currently undocumented immigrants who will gain Permanent Residence Under Color of Law (PRUCOL) status under President Obama’s recent executive actions. The $5 million included in the Governor’s May Revise for outreach and assistance to this previously ineligible population is smart fiscally and health policy-wise.
“But even as California assists more families in gaining coverage through health care reform, our state must address the significant barriers to accessing health care with that coverage. More than half of California’s children are covered by Medi-Cal, yet they are not getting the care they need. The pool of health care providers willing to accept Medi-Cal has shrunk to unacceptable levels, due in large part to outdated and inadequate provider rates.
“Access to dental care is an even greater challenge. Given the State Auditor’s recent findings that less than half of the children covered by Medi-Cal received dental services in the prior year, we look forward to working with the Administration and the Legislature to ensure that the budget adopted in June includes strategies to ensure children get the dental services they need and that taxpayers are paying to cover. We urge the Governor and Legislature to include funds to invest in the start-up of the Virtual Dental Home. Supported through legislation last year, the Virtual Dental Home is a proven statewide model of care that uses telehealth and dental professionals with extended scopes of practice to provide regular dental care to children at preschools and schools to ensure a lifetime of oral health. However, without an upfront investment in training, equipment, technical assistance, and other support that providers need to get started, the system will not be able to spread statewide to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children.
“Addressing the access barriers to medical and dental care can be funded with the enhanced federal match recently authorized by Congress in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The Children’s Partnership and other child advocates worked hard to secure passage of the CHIP reauthorization, which increased the federal match from the previous 66% to 88% of the cost of children’s health coverage in our state. This “CHIP bump” for children’s health frees up an estimated $381 million in this budget year and roughly $500 million next budget year. We look forward to working with the Administration and Legislature to invest those CHIP monies in improving access to health care for our children, as those dollars were intended.”
Kathy Dresslar recently joined The Children’s Partnership after serving as Chief of Staff to former California Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg.
###
