CPC Hand-Delivers Patient Testimonies to State Leaders Pleading for No Budget Cuts to Health and Human Services

To: HEALTH EDITORS

Contact: Alisha Rosas, +1-909-447-2405, for Californians for Patient Care

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — As part of its efforts to ensure the State’s leaders are putting patients first when it comes to developing a State Budget, Californians for Patient Care (CPC), a non-profit, patient-advocacy organization, hand delivered a DVD of patient testimonies to Governor Schwarzenegger as well as other key leaders in the State Legislature today.

“This DVD was designed to provide the State’s leaders with a better understanding of how devastating these massive health and human services reductions would be to patients statewide,” said CPC President, Maria Robles, RN. “It is Californians for Patient Care’s goal that Governor Schwarzenegger and Members of the Legislature not only view these materials, but that they inspire them to join us in working together to make California a State that clearly puts patients first!

The DVD was hand-delivered to Governor Schwarzenegger’s staff as well as key leaders of the State Legislature, including: President Pro Tempore, Senator Don Perata; Speaker Karen Bass; Minority Leader, Senator Dave Cogdill and Minority Floor Leader, Assemblyman Michael Villines, among others. In addition, both Assembly Budget Committee Chair John Laird and Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Chair Denise Ducheny also received copies of the DVD.

Currently, the State’s proposed budget cuts would provide millions less in state and federal-matching funds to doctors, hospitals, outpatient treatment centers and ultimately anyone who depends on Medi-Cal for their healthcare needs. Nearly 7 million of California’s most vulnerable populations — including children, senior citizens and the disabled — will be impacted by these drastic cuts.

For that reason, CPC has been working with patients statewide, to gain insight and learn from families about how they believe these massive reductions would impact their everyday lifestyles and overall health.

In addition to gathering patient testimonies for the DVD, CPC also worked directly with patients in developing a postcard they could fill out and turn in that provided them with the opportunity to comment directly to our State leaders. This grassroots effort resulted in more than 1,500 postcards that were also delivered to the Governor’s Office today.

Interim Chair for Californians for Patient Care Advisory Group, Liz Helms, who walked the Capitol and hand-delivered the DVD and postcards to Governor Schwarzenegger’s staff, said she felt proud of the patient advocacy work done by CPC.

“Today, the voices of California’s patients will be heard in Sacramento,” said Helms. “They deserve a voice in this policy discussion and where budget cuts are made, especially when their healthcare is involved. In some cases, their very lives depend on it.”

The DVD and letter provided to the Governor and Members of the Legislature encourages them to join forces with CPC to learn more about the patients the proposed budget cuts would impact. It also emphasizes the importance of not cutting from health and human services and provided statistics on how many people would be impacted if the proposed budget cuts became reality.

Patients in the video are from the Sierra/Plumas region as well as the Inland Empire. To receive a copy of the CPC DVD “Patients First!” please contact, Alisha Rosas at alisha.rosas@vmacommunications.comor call her at (909) 447-2405.

The DVD can also be viewed immediately at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deRdI7z5FuM.

For more information on Californians for Patient Care, please visit http://www.calpatientcare.org.

SOURCE Californians for Patient Care

(c) 2008 U.S. Newswire. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.