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The California Progress Report is published by Frank D. Russo, a longtime observer of and participant in California politics.

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Making State Dollars Go Farther for Planned Parenthood and Neighborhood Health Clinics

By Hannah Beth Jackson

Sometimes in politics, the easiest solutions are the most elusive. That should not be the case with one part of the state budget discussions. When it comes to trying to leverage state tax dollars to maximize federal money at small state cost, there is no simpler discussion than putting in a meager $24 million to increase the Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for our state's safety net health care providers like Planned Parenthood and Neighborhood Health Clinics.

These providers are requesting the state increase their reimbursements for the first time in 20 years, although their work and responsibilities have expanded greatly over time and the costs to them have increased substantially as the sheer costs of delivering health care services---from staffing to pharmaceuticals, have shot through the ceiling during the past two decades.

But the common sense of it all should be the deal maker alone. For less than 1/10th of 1% of the state's budget, we could see California get nine matching federal dollars for each state dollar spent, thus reducing the state's financial burden, our healthcare safety net's fraying edges and returning to Californians some of their hard-earned dollars. With Californians paying over $50 Billion more in taxes to the feds than we get back in services, this is one pretty inexpensive way to bring at least a few of those tax dollars home.

If you agree, it's time to act. We urge you to go to our site now and sign a letter to our state's leadership urging them to put these dollars to work.

We've been working hard to get a $24 million dollar increase into the Medi-Cal reimbursement rate as part of the current budget negotiations. After 20 years of no increases at all, NOW IS THE TIME. We are at the critical point in these negotiations when we must TAKE ACTION and INSIST that our state leaders---from the Governor to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Don Perata and Speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Nunez, ---listen to us and help the state's healthcare safety net providers care for the hundreds of thousands of people they serve---and have to turn away because they don't have the financial resources to provide clinical care to those seeking it.

This is a solution that works. It's time to bring those tax dollars back to California. The need is great and the opportunity is NOW. Easy solutions are hard to come by these days. Let's not let them drop the ball on this one.

Help us help them make it happen.

Hannah-Beth Jackson is a former Assemblymember who served in the California Assembly from 1998-2004. She Chaired the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety, the Committee on Natural Resources as well as the Legislative Women's Caucus.

After term limits and redistricting forced her out of office, she helped start Speak Out California and serves as its President. Speak Out California is a progressive internet site envisioned by California's progressive leaders to effectively craft the issues and messages that will encourage public participation in bringing new ideas and vision to California's political landscape.

Posted on May 31, 2007

Comments

Since 1998, the nine Planned Parenthood affiliates in California have received over $270 million in taxpayer funds and had a total profit of $83 million. They put all this profit "in the bank" and currently have total assets in excess of $170 million.

Planned Parenthood doesn't need more taxpayer money - state or federal - it should get less.

Maybe, in these tight times, it should actually return the $83 million it didn't need.

Posted by: Jim Sedlak at May 31, 2007 12:47 PM

What Mr. Sedlak doesn’t say speaks volumes. Sedlak is the head of STOPP, or Stop Planned Parenthood, an anti-choice extremist group that is an offshoot of the American Life League (ALL). STOPP’s sole purpose is to put Planned Parenthood out of business – even if it means eliminating the 97 percent of Planned Parenthood’s work providing family planning services, breast and cervical cancer screenings, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases or HIV/AIDS and the pre-natal and primary health care services our patients depend upon. Sedlak, STOPP and the ALL are even OPPOSED TO CONTRACEPTION AND SEX EDUCATION!

We want to thank Hannah Beth for her longtime support of Planned Parenthood and we hope all subscribers to the California Progress Report will contact legislative leadership in California to urge them to increase Medi-Cal reimbursements rates for family planning services so we and other safety-net providers can continue to provide quality preventive health care services to more than a half-million Californians each year.

Posted by: Kathy Kneer at May 31, 2007 02:38 PM

What Ms Kneer doesn't say speaks volumes.

Why does Planned Parenthood compete for tax dollars with other healthcare providers which provide the same services to low-income women (with the exception of abortion)?

For every HIV test it does, Planned Parenthood aborts a child. (The # of abortions performed last year at PPHSET is 6376 compared with 6948 HIV tests).

For every breast & cervical cancer screen performed, PPHSET does 4.4 abortions. (The number of abortions = 6,983 compared to screenings given was 1,592 in the last year these numbers were available).

For every prenatal visit, PPHSET does 14.6 abortions. (The number of abortions performed compared to prenatal visits was 6,376 to 278).

For every adoption referral it gives, PPFA does 138 abortions. (PPFA performed 244,628 abortions and only referred 1,774 mothers to adoption agencies in 2004).

Pro-life groups like STOPP, ALL, & Houston Coalition for Life are not opposed to children receiving age appropriate sex education from their parents when they are ready. We ARE opposed to Planned Parenthood's style of sex education which you can view for yourself on www.teenwire.com.

Posted by: Helen Posvar at June 1, 2007 10:35 AM

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