As we speak, Governor Schwarzenegger is proposing to undo our hard-earned victory in bringing about national health care reform. He's trying to push forth a series of proposed budget cuts that would unravel our health care system here in California - all part of an ongoing effort to sabotage and undermine the implementation of health reform.
Today, the California Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health will vote on $1.6 billion in proposed cuts to the Medi-Cal program.
Not only does Medi-Cal provide low-income and high-need Californians with access to the quality care they need - but it forms part of the essential health and human services safety net which serves as the foundation on which we're working to expand coverage to millions of Californians!
That's why we need you to call your state legislators today and ask them NOT to cut health care for those Californians who need it most!
Click here and enter your zip-code and get your legislators' phone numbers TODAY!
The proposed cuts would have cruel and devastating effects on hundreds of thousands of Californians who otherwise would not have access to the care they need!
This includes:
- Eliminating covered Medi-Cal benefits from wheelchairs to diabetic test strips to prosthetic limbs, to around 3 million seniors, people with disabilities and others suffering serious health problems-tens of thousands of whom will need those benefits in the next year.
- Eliminating Adult Day Health Care, a Medi-Cal program that helps nearly 40,000 seniors live independently at home with their loved ones and keeps them out of high-cost nursing homes.
- Eliminating California's Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment program, which provides treatment to 9,000 women with cancer every year.
- Eliminating primary and preventative care for legal immigrants who have been in the US for less than five years, forcing them to forego early and preventative treatment and instead rely on costly emergency-room care.
We've fought too hard and come too far to let this happen now!
Call your legislators today and tell them to stand strong for California's vital health care system!
Not only are these cuts cruel, but they will send the WRONG MESSAGE to state legislators, who are now tasked with implementing the national health care program by EXPANDING COVERAGE and DEFINING BASIC BENEFITS.
Help us spread the word! Please forward this message to your friends, family members and co-workers TODAY and ask them to call their state legislators and demand they oppose devastating cuts to California's health care system!
Together, we'll get the best health care we can for California!
Brian
Health Care for America Now - California!
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