Quick Click to Urge Your Legislators to Keep Children's Services off the Chopping Block! March 4, 2011
Greetings!
Health and Human Services, Justice, and Education Appropriations committees this week continued to receive overviews from legislative staff and from department staff. There was a focus on Medicaid in the HHS appropriations committee. Health Choice will be highlighted next week.
There is a public hearing on K-12 education held by the Joint Appropriations Committee on Education on Monday, March 7 at the Legislative Office Building. Click here for more information and to sign up to speak.
Take Action: Click here to sign our petition to keep critical children's programs like health insurance, early education and services for at-risk youth off the chopping block! This is a quick and easy way to let your voice be heard for children during the budget debate. When you sign on, an email will be sent automatically to your legislators.
Medicaid Appeals Process Threatened Language has been proposed for inclusion in the budget bill that would significantly limit due process for applicants to and beneficiaries of public programs. Click here for a summary of the changes in the proposed policy. Among other changes, the new policies would:
- Take away jurisdiction from the Office of Administrative Hearings to heard Medicaid and other appeals, leaving it up to department staff to hear appeals after the department has rejected a claim.
- Shorten appeal deadlines from as much as 90 days currently, to as little as 10 days.
- Require appeals to be filed in writing on a certain form, rather than being simply requested verbally.
- Limit the continued provision of benefits during the appeals process.
Current federal laws prevent the state from cutting eligibility for Medicaid. Restricting due process for appeals is a way to reduce benefits instead. Fortunately, federal law prohibits restricting benefits or access to services for children. Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) requires that children covered by Medicaid receive certain preventive treatments, plus any medically necessary service that they need, except habilitative services. Click here for more information about EPSDT.
Thanks to Doug Sea with Legal Services of the Southern Piedmont for the update on the Medicaid Appeals Process proposed changes.
Bill Update Tracking lists of bills in each of Action for Children's four areas of interest will be maintained on the website and updated weekly. Please visit our Policy Action page for full lists. Here are highlights of the bills that were introduced or moved this week. Safety SB49: INCREASE FINE FOR SPEEDING/SCHOOL ZONES. Passed the Senate and is in House Judiciary. The proposed fine was decreased by amendment from "$250" to "not less than $100 and not more than $250" SB77: MDPV/SCHEDULE I CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE Passed the Senate. Would provide penalties for possession and trafficking in this synthetic drug sold legally as "bath salts". SB135: ALLOW JUVENILE RECORD/RISK DETERMINATION/BOND Referred to Senate Judiciary II. Would allow any juvenile record to be considered when determining risk assessment for establishing bond. Education HB48: NO STANDARDIZED TESTING UNLESS REQUIRED BY THE FEDS. Passed Senate. SB8: NO CAP ON CHARTER SCHOOLS. Referred to House Education. SB74: COMM COLLEGES/OPT OUT OF FED'L LOAN PROGRAM. Withdrawn from Senate floor and referred to Appropriations. Health HB115: NC HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE did not move this week, but is on the schedule in House HHS for next week. See this week's Action Items, below, for more. HB218: LEGISLATIVE TASKFORCE ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY. Introduced. Establishes the task force until May 2012. SB147: PREVENT NEURAL TUBE BIRTH DEFECTS/FUNDS. Introduced. Funds for March of Dimes to continue Folic Acid campaign.
Economic Security HB93/SB117: MODIFY REFUNDABILITY OF EITC/ELIMINATE EITC REFUNDABILITY PROVISION. This bill was scheduled to be heard in Finance this week but was not heard. Advocates are expecting it to be heard next week and will be testifying against it. A press conference was held Thursday, March 3. Strips the state EITC of its refundability, which is a major factor in the credit's ability to help pull families out of poverty. See this week's Action Items, below, for more. HB188: TAXPAYERS BILL OF RIGHTS Referred to House Judiciary. Would limit state budget increases to population growth + inflation. HB223: HEALTHY FAMILIES & WORKPLACES/PAID SICK DAYS. Introduced. Would ensure that all workers receive paid sick leave to care for themselves or family members. SB205: NO BENEFITS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS. Introduced. Would require certain forms of ID be shown to receive federal, state or local benefits.
TAKE ACTION: Call for a strong and credible state health exchange! A new coalition, Citizens for Responsible Health Care, has been formed to ensure that the NC Health Exchange that will be implemented in 2014 as the state's marketplace for health insurance plans is strong and credible. The two principles behind the new coalition are that: - Health plans offered by the exchange should meet strict standards;
- A conflict of interest should be avoided by prohibiting the insurance industry from having a voting presence on the Board that will govern the exchange.
Click here for more on the new Coalition, including a member list. Some actions you can take: - Join the Coalition - your organization or you as an individual can contact Abby Carter Emanuelson at 919-792-1006 if you would like to join the coalition.
- Contact your legislators and urge them to follow the two principles listed above as they consider legislation to create the state exchange.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local paper urging the General Assembly to follow the two principles listed above as they consider legislation to create the state exchange.
Contacts to the House HHS committee are especially needed right now, since one of the health exchange bills (H115) will be heard next week in that committee. If any of your legislators sits on that committee, please contact him/her right away.
TAKE ACTION:
EFFECTIVENESS OF EITC THREATENED!!
Take Action today to protect tax credit for working families.
The state EITC is under attack and we need your help to protect this important policy for North Carolina's working families. The bill was not heard this week in House Finance, but we are expecting it to be heard next Tuesday or Wednesday. Click below to contact House Finance today!
House Bill 93 would eliminate the refundable nature of the state EITC. Refundability is essential to ensuring that the state EITC targets those most in need. It also offsets the greater share of total taxes these families pay as compared to those with higher income. Click here for more information, including county-level data.
Contact members of the House Finance Committee.
Urge them to oppose House Bill 93. - This bill will hurt low-income working families when they are struggling to get by in this tough economy.
- 12 percent of non-elderly households in North Carolina will experience a tax increase as a result.
- This will remove $52 million from local economies at a time when consumer spending is critical to job creation and economic recovery. (Click here for more information and county-specific analysis to include in your email.)
WE NEED YOUR HELP! Take Action Today to protect North Carolina's struggling working families.
Stay Tuned - Upcoming Events - K-12 Education Public Hearing: March 7, 4-6 pm, Room 544, Legislative Office Building. The Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Education are requesting public comments on the Education budget. There are limited number of speaker slots and comments will be subjected to a three minute time limit. Click here to sign up if you would like to speak at this meeting.
- Children's Advocacy Day: March 15. Join Action for Children, the Covenant with North Carolina's Children, the NC Pediatric Society, MomsRising, Smart Start, the Childcare Coalition and others for a day of educating the General Assembly on the importance of children's programs and services like health insurance, child care subsidies, juvenile justice funding, raising the age of juvenile court jurisdiction and infant mortality prevention funding. We need YOU to come out in support of the programs and services that protect our children's health, safety, education and economic security. Click here for a flyer to share.
- What: Press conference and visits to legislators' offices
- When: Tuesday, March 15. Visits to legislators' offices start at 9 am, press conference at 11:30
- Where: Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones St. Sign-in/information/snack table will be set up in the 1100 court of the Legislative Building. Press conference will be in front of the Legislative Building on Jones St.
Sincerely, Action for Children North Carolina | 
