The health of California's children is at risk! There are currently two draconian and unprecedented proposals being debated in the budget conference committee - both of which would leave hundreds of thousands of children without health coverage.

One proposal would completely eliminate the Healthy Families Program, disenrolling nearly one million children from the affordable program and making California the only state in the nation that neglects to provide health coverage to children of working families who have nowhere else to turn for coverage.

The other proposal would kick 225,000 children off the Program by rolling back eligibility standards; children in families with annual incomes between 200-250% of the poverty level would no longer be eligible. This proposal, which would drop nearly a quarter of a million children from the Healthy Families Program and leave them with no access to affordable health coverage, is foolish because it would drive up health care costs for county clinics and emergency rooms.

Time is of the essence! The budget conference committee will likely make decisions on the issue of children's health insurance in the next week.

Take Action NOW! Click here to tell the Legislature not to balance the budget on the backs of our children. There are options to create a budget package that does not add more children to the ranks of the uninsured, and our leaders must prioritize the health of California children.

Make Your Voice Heard on June 17th! Join us at 11a.m. on Wednesday June 17th, as we deliver messages from children across California in support of children's health programs to policymakers at the Capitol; if you have any questions, please contact us at the email address below.

For more details on potential impacts of the Governor's budget, click here.

To see the budget's potential impact to children's health in your county, click here.

Stay Tuned: We will keep you up-to-date on opportunities to take action, and on policy decisions that impact children's health in California. For more information, please contact Tim Morrison at tmorrison@childrennow.org or 510-763-2444 x 122.