AAP-CA, California Medical Association (CMA), and the California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) are cosponsoring AB 2093 to set a reasonable floor for vaccine acquisition and administration payment.

With strong advocacy by AAP-CA, the bill passed the Assembly 73 to 1! Our primary concern was acquiring sufficient Republican votes to support the Governor in signing the bill over potential health plan opposition. Republicans, as well as Democrats, came through with flying colors in support of our bill. Thank you to all who were able to take the time to contact Assemblymembers.

Next stop: Senate Health Committee!

YOUR ACTION MATTERS: To see how your Assembly member voted on AB 2093, go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_2051-2100/ab_2093_vote_20100602_0244PM_asm_floor.html.

If your Assembly member voted AYE, please call, email, or fax to thank them! (This is an important step often missed in advocacy efforts).
Second, if your Senator sits on the Senate Health Committee, please urge them to vote AYE on AB 2093 when it comes before them. Let them know AB 2093 supports access to life-saving vaccines. Senate Health Committee Members are Alquist (Chair), Strickland (Vice-Chair), Aanestad, Cedillo, Cox, Leno, Negrete McLeod, Pavley, and Romero.

State Budget Update: Conference Committee Meets

AAP-CA has identified top priorities for state budget advocacy on behalf of children and pediatricians:

Preserve funding for children in Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and California Children’s Services.
Protect First 5 revenues as intended by the voters for children 0-5.
Preserve funding for CalWorks, serving one million children, to prevent homelessness and other deprivation linked to poverty.

Faced with a $20 billion deficit, the Governor has proposed increased premiums and copayments in Healthy Families and elimination of the CalWorks program. Both houses of the Legislature separately rejected those proposals. The joint Budget Conference Committee is now meeting to develop a single, balanced budget to present to the Governor. The challenge remains the enormous deficit – in order to eliminate cuts to kids health care, other cuts must be found, revenues must be raised, or some combination of the two.

Members of this year’s Conference Committee are: Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny, Chair; Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield, Vice Chair; Senator Bob Dutton, Senator Bob Huff, Senator Mark Leno, Senator Alan Lowenthal, Assemblymember Connie Conway, Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes, Assemblymember Jim Nielsen, and Assemblymember Nancy Skinner.

YOUR ACTION MATTERS: If your legislator is on the Budget Conference Committee, please contact them now. Three points to emphasize:

Funding for kids in Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and California Children’s Services must be protected. Federal reform, built on the continued strength of these programs, will not replace these funds!
Protect First Five funds, which address children’s needs in a targeted, local manner and should not be raided for state programs.
Ensure that CalWorks remains a safety net for children most in need.

To identify your Legislator and find their webpage to get contact information go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html