URGENT ALERT!
HELP PRESERVE CASH ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR IMMIGRANTS (CAPI) and
MEDI-CAL SERVICES FOR IMMIGRANT IN CALIFORNIA
Sign-On Today to the following Letters to Governor Schwarzenegger and Legislative Leaders

To Sign-on, email Cary Sanders at csanders@caimmigrant.org

(please sign-on to either or both letters by Monday, June 2nd at end of business day)

Sign on to a letter in support of the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, (CAPI) which provides critical assistance to low-income, immigrant seniors and persons with disabilities. The Governor has proposed elimination of CAPI.
Sign-on to a letter in support of Medi-Cal services for immigrants. The Governor has proposed restricting access to Medi-Cal for lawfully residing immigrants. Under the Governor's plan, lawful immigrants who have been in the U.S. 5 years or less would only be able to access Emergency Medi-Cal and a few other urgent care programs. All immigrants on Emergency Medi-Cal, under the Governor's plan, would have to reapply for the benefit monthly.
Make a call in support of CAPI and Medi-Cal; Call Senator Denise Ducheny - Chair, Senate Budget Committee, (916) 651-4040 Assembly Member Patty Berg, Chair, Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services - (916) 319-2001 .
CAPI SIGN-ON LETTER:

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, Ca 95814
Fax: 916-558-3160

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

We, the undersigned organizations, write in opposition to your recent proposals in the May Revise to cut $2.9 billion in vital safety-net programs serving children, families, the elderly and persons with disabilities. These cuts would be devastating to the state's most vulnerable residents.

We object to all the proposed cuts targeting low-income Californians, but we write to strongly oppose the proposal to eliminate the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI). This program, established in 1998 under Republican Governor Wilson, serves as a veritable life line for California's seniors and persons with disabilities who rely on the program as a last resort to pay for housing, food and other basic necessities.

The CAPI program serves close to 10,000 low-income lawful immigrant seniors and people with disabilities. The average monthly grant is $632.76. Lawmakers in Sacramento - both Democrats and Republicans - have consistently supported CAPI, citing the vital role the program plays in ensuring that vulnerable seniors and persons with disabilities do not face hunger or homelessness.

The CAPI program provides critical support for immigrant seniors and persons with disabilities. Many of these immigrants worked in the United States for years before becoming old or disabled. Cutting the program would leave these residents without a viable means of support. One individual who had worked in Los Angeles for years declared that losing CAPI would be like receiving an early death sentence. Indeed, immediately following the passage of the 1996 welfare law, a number of immigrants who faced the loss of their SSI grant - which CAPI replaced in California - committed suicide.

Immigrants are the backbone of California's economy, and pay taxes to support all of us. In times of hardship, they deserve access to the very programs that their tax dollars support. The CAPI program is a small investment in making sure that seniors and persons with disabilities get the assistance they need. We urge you to reconsider these shortsighted proposals and to focus instead on a balanced approach to solving the state's fiscal crisis.


Sincerely,
(THIS LETTER WILL BE CC'D TO THE ASSEMBLY AND SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP


MEDI-CAL SIGN-ON LETTER


The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, Ca 95814
Fax: 916-558-3160

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

We, the undersigned, strongly oppose your targeting of immigrant communities in the May Revise proposal. Your budget plan, if implemented, would jeopardize the health and well-being of vulnerable immigrants in California. As a Governor for all the people of this state, we urge you to rescind your proposed budget cuts targeting low-income immigrants and find ways to raise revenues. At this critical juncture, California must invest in the health and well-being of its residents rather than dismantling the foundation on which health reform depends. Jeopardizing the health of the poor, elderly, and persons with disabilities by reducing their access to Medi-Cal is not an acceptable way to balance the budget; singling out immigrants who contribute to the success and economy of the state for the most severe cuts is discriminatory and unfair.

We strongly oppose your proposal to deny access to full-scope Medi-Cal to lawfully residing immigrants, including green card holders, during their first five years. California has led the nation in efforts to ensure fair and equal access to health care for legal immigrants. Restricting low-income immigrants' access to Medi-Cal is inhumane, and will not result in significant cost savings. In fact, this restriction will result in higher human and fiscal costs for the state and will in effect increase the number of uninsured in California. Denying comprehensive health care to those eligible for Medi-Cal - children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities - will not stop them from needing health care services. Uninsured individuals are more likely to delay seeking treatment for potentially serious conditions, ultimately receiving care that is more costly and less effective.1 California will continue to pay for these more expensive emergency services through the emergency Medi-Cal program.2

We also oppose your proposal to increase barriers for immigrants in need of emergency medical care by requiring them to reapply monthly in order to continue to receive critical emergency services for which they are eligible. This wasteful and inefficient proposal will require unnecessary paperwork, costing providers and agencies valuable time and resources that could otherwise be spent on providing direct care to those in need. There is no rational reason for requiring monthly certification except to, in effect, deny emergency care to low-income immigrants and increase the amount of uncompensated care in the state by creating new administrative barriers.

Immigrants are the backbone of California's economy, and pay taxes to support all of us. They deserve access to the very health care programs that their tax dollars support, especially in times of hardship. We urge you to rescind these inhumane proposals and seek solutions that solve our budget crisis without putting at risk the health of vulnerable Californians. In a nation where we all strive to fulfill the American dream, California must, and can do better.


Sincerely,

THIS LETTER WILL BE CC'D TO THE ASSEMBLY AND SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP


1 Institute of Medicine, Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in America, National Academies Press (2003).
2 As a matter of federal law, low-income immigrants who would be eligible for Medi-Cal except for their immigration status receive Medi-Cal for emergency health services.