This story was reported for San Diego News Network on June 4, 2009.
More than 76,000 San Diego County children could lose health care coverage if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal is approved, said local leaders Thursday.
Leaders of San Diego Organizing Project, Family Health Centers of San Diego and local churches said if Schwarzenegger’s Plan B proposal was approved, nearly one million children could lose health care coverage.
The governor, who has become increasingly unpopular according to a recent Field Poll, said in a joint legislative meeting Tuesday he understands the negative impact of his proposal, but that it is necessary.
San Diego’s health leaders say they plan to pressure state leaders to seek other means of funds.
“This is not the end,” said SDOP leader Gloria Cooper. “This is only the beginning. We will inundate the governor’s office with calls and letters until he hears us.”
SDOP is a faith-based organization that represents more than 41,000 families in San Diego County. The organization, alongside Family Health Centers of San Diego, said legislators should not fix their $24 billion shortfall by hurting California’s children.
Schwarzenegger’s proposal asks legislators to eliminate the Healthy Families Program completely by Aug. 1. The move would save the state $366 million. The governor also suggested reducing funds for the Medi-Cal program by at least $1 billion in the next fiscal year. He also wishes to impose stricter eligibility requirements that would only allow the state’s very poor families to receive coverage. Other health-care cuts for low-income families could affect up to two million people, 1.5 million of which would be children.
“This is not a movie project Mr. Governor Schwarzenegger,” said San Diegan Yolanda Reyes, whose three children receive state health coverage. “Your decisions and actions affect us. No more cuts.”
Reyes, whose 14-year-old son underwent surgery for an ear infection in 2007, had a bill totaling nearly $22,000. She said if the state had eliminated coverage two years ago, her single-income home might not have survived.
Rosa Guiterrez, a local mom, also spoke out against the governor’s plan Thursday. The mother of two said she is deeply worried about the possibility her children might lose health care coverage.
“I’m really concerned,” she said. “What are we going to do? Am I going to pay for rent or pay for my children’s health insurance?”
According to a study by the University of California at Berkeley, about 300,000 children lost employer-based health care coverage this year. The amount of enrollment of the Healthy Families Program has also increased by 12 percent since last year.
Cooper said legislators have other options rather than eliminate or reduce health care coverage.
“There are other areas that can be cut,” Cooper said. “We waste a lot of our money on different programs and those programs need to be looked at first. We cannot try to balance our budget on the backs of our children.”
Cooper also recommended fixing the structure of California’s tax system, which has been blamed for our current dilemma by a number of people, including Schwarzenegger.
“We are in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression,” Schwarzenegger said. “In the past 18 months, one-third of the world’s wealth has vanished. And because of that and because of California’s outdated and volatile tax system, our revenues have dropped 27 percent from last year.”
But, he said, the only way for the state to fix its budget immediately, is through cuts.
“I know the consequences of those cuts are not just dollars,” he said. “People come up to me all the time, pleading, ‘Governor, please don’t cut my program.’ They tell me about how those cuts affect them and their loved ones. I see the pain in their eyes and I hear the fear in their voices and I hear the demonstrations outside of our Capitol. It’s an awful feeling but we have no choice.”
And the state will have to fix its budget immediately. According, to State Controller John Chiang, California will have to pass a new budget by June 15 in order for him to secure short-term cash by July 29. After, the state will depend on cuts to eventually save California, he said Wednesday.
Other cuts included in Schwarzenegger’s Plan B include: the elimination or consolidation of state departments, a 5 percent salary cut to all state workers (except legislators and court workers), the closure of 220 state parks, the sale of state assets including the Del Mar Fairgrounds, halting cash grants to 77,000 college students and shortening the school year by seven days.
Schwarzenegger has also proposed suspending Proposition 1A from 2004 that will allow the state to borrow up to 8 percent of property tax revenue from local municipalities. A very unpopular decision, the proposal caused leaders throughout the county to gather together for an emergency budget meeting on Wednesday.
Schwarzenegger’s proposal will see a fight.
Cooper said SDOP and other health organizations throughout the county will hold a protest at the San Diego’s governor’s office on June 10.
“We cannot stop the healing of our children,” Cooper said. “If we do, they will not be productive members of our community.”
Hoa Quach is the poltical editor for the San Diego News Network.