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The Washington State legislative session ends on Thursday, March 13th!
Send this email today! Make sure you include your full name,
address, and organizational affiliation as National Council of Jewish
Women Seattle Section.
Send the following message to Senators
Margarita Prentice (prentice.margarita@leg.wa.gov),
Craig Pridemore (pridemore.craig@leg.wa.gov),
and Lisa Brown
brown.lisa@leg.wa.gov) AND to
Representatives Lynn Kessler (kessler.lynn@leg.wa.gov),
Helen Summers (sommers.helen@leg.wa.gov),
and Hans Dunshee (dunshee.hans@leg.wa.gov):
Recent federal policy changes to
Washington’s Medicaid family planning waiver has restricted access to
family planning services. Thirty percent of low-income Washington State
residents are no longer eligible for the Take Charge family planning
services; the result is an $8 million gap per year. Last year the
legislature attempted to stem this problem with a biennial allocation of
$5 million for family planning.
Unfortunately, with the minimum gap of
$8 million per year, this funding was spent in the first year of the
biennium. We are asking that you support and include the full $8
million necessary to fund this program. Based on our analysis of the
current budget proposals, it appears that the House version is funding
the program at $6.6 million rather than the $5 million in the Senate
version. If you cannot fund this bill at the full $8 million, please at
least fund it at the level specified in the House bill.
In the long run, family planning dollars
save the State future dollars spent on medical coverage for unplanned
pregnancies and costs associated with medical services for premature
babies and low-income children. If funding for family planning is
restored, Washington could save over 125 million dollars in state-funded
health care costs. |
