FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 12, 2007
For Media Assistance

Key Children's Piece of Health Care Reform Continues to Move Forward

Sacramento– AB 1 (Laird & Dymally) passed out of Senate Health Committee last night, moving all California children closer to accessing comprehensive, affordable health coverage.

“We are now closer than ever to bringing health coverage to all children in California,” said Jim Keddy, director of PICO California.  “As negotiations for health care reform continue at the Capitol, coverage for all children must remain a top priority, and we urge our legislators to bring sound policy and financing together to make this a reality THIS YEAR.”

AB 1, along with its companion bill SB 32, will finish the job of ensuring that all California children have access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance enabling them to develop into healthy and strong adults. The legislation would also simplify the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families enrollment process for families and help children stay covered for as long as they are eligible.

AB 1 and SB 32 provide the blueprint for how health coverage could be expanded to all children.  Poll after poll continues to show that Californians want coverage for all children. Our legislators must find a viable way to finance these important policy changes to make health coverage a reality for all California children.

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The 100% Campaign, a collaborative effort of Children Now, Children's Defense Fund and The Children's Partnership, with primary funding from The California Endowment, was created to ensure that all of California's children obtain the health coverage they need to grow up strong and healthy.

The PICO California Project is the united effort of 20 California congregation-community organizations affiliated with the PICO National Network. Collectively, we represent 350 congregations and 400,000 families statewide and are actively organizing in over 70 cities in Northern and Southern California.

United Ways of California is a state association of local United Ways and is a strong advocate of finding a statewide solution to cover all kids in this state. United Ways work closely with local community and business leaders, legislators and others to promote this achievable and important goal.