Parents who have been taking advantage of California child health insurance programs that lowered costs may have to look to the capitol in Washington DC for help: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is still facing a $24.3 billion budget deficit and says that health care coverage to less-than-affluent children may have to be cut to make up some of the difference.
For children whose parents make a combined $22,000 to $55,125 and were normally covered by the state's Healthy Families program, Schwarzenegger announced that he would try to save $305 million by cutting their coverage, a process that would take away in turn roughly $600 million more in federal matching funds, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Other health care cuts in the state budget helped to bring the total to $2 billion, out of a total $14.3 billion still facing the state after cuts made earlier in the year. Other programs that may be cut based on a vote in the legislature include funds for treatment of breast and cervical cancer, as well as counseling and testing programs for HIV, according to the Redding Record Spotlight.
"We're working very hard to find other alternatives, but if you're a free-standing rural health clinic today I don't see surviving these times," Cathy Larsen, CEO of Southern Trinity Health Services told the news provider. "We're not only going to have jobs and services lost, but we're going to be losing federal dollars coming into the state, which will just mean the loss of more jobs."
Just over the border, many Americans are finding that they can afford to get prescriptions in towns like Tijuana, in spite of turbulent drug-related warfare and the recent swine flue scare, according to UCLA researchers who estimate that just under 1 million Californians cross the border each year for health insurance, primarily Mexican emigrants who cross back over.
While legislative officials may not all be on board with the cuts, some told the Sacramento Bee that the state can't afford the benefits it provides, and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore said, "When you have an unemployment as high as it is in this state, it should be a signal to people to look for jobs in other states with more jobs and a lower cost of living."
Working with health insurers that offer California child health insurance plans could save money for some families, including ones where a child may have autism. One provider of autism spectrum disorder services, Wellspring, is offering a seminar on June 11 in Burbank to show families how they can get coverage through their current insurer, without worrying about further state budget cuts.
Calfornia Child Health Insurance News provided by healthinsurancefinders.com
1 comment:
Reading the previous post I think, "Geeze, I wish I only had it in one ankle!" haha I remember those days fondly now!!! I hope his surgery helps him heal so it does not spread like mine. I am saying a prayer for him.
How are you?
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