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Legislative
Priorities 2003
Realignment
Realignment funding streams
help finance state mandated health services provided by counties,
as well as essential mental health and social services programs administered
by counties, within the broad framework of realignment principles.
Health Realignment provides dedicated funding for indigent health
care and core public health services and functions, while allowing
local health jurisdictions the flexibility to address local health
care needs. This funding stream enables local health departments to
create a sense of cohesion around a mission rather than rely entirely
on a string of inadequate funding streams.
Legislative
action: Monitor and analyze any proposals to modify
existing realignment statute and make appropriate recommendations
to protect local health, mental health and social services. Support
protection of continued level of Vehicle License Fee (VLF) funding
into realignment accounts, through either the current General Fund
VLF “offset” mechanism or reinstatement of the 1998 through
2001 VLF reductions.
Strengthening
Local Public Health Systems
Communicable Disease
Prevention/Surveillance and Response
The events of the past
year have dramatically increased public awareness of the threat of
bioterrorism – and the need to substantially increase the capacity
of local public health departments to respond to such threats. However,
public health departments also need adequate resources to continue
their on-going monitoring of communicable diseases. New and re-emerging
infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis C and antibiotic resistant
tuberculosis, are on the rise, and are stretching the capacity of
local health departments to track, prevent and control these diseases.
Legislative
action: Continue to support legislative and budget efforts
to increase federal and state funding for augmenting the communicable
disease surveillance and response capacity of local health departments.
Support strategies for creating opportunities for pulling down federal
matching funds to support public health activities.
Health Care
Services for the Medically Indigent
Counties depend on an unreliable
patchwork of funding streams to fulfill their Section 17000 indigent
health care responsibilities. In recent years critical funding from
the Proposition 99 tobacco tax has been drastically reduced (a decline
of over $250 million since 1990 in the California Healthcare for Indigents
Program (CHIP) alone), the state has eliminated its share of support
for the County Medical Services Program (CMSP) and recent federal
actions will dramatically reduce Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH)
funding. Other indigent health care funding sources should be sought.
Legislative
action: Support new funding streams that provide support
for any of the components of indigent health care, including trauma
care and other essential services.
1127 11th Street, Suite 309, Sacramento, CA 95814
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Page last updated on
October 19, 2006
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