The campaign behind an initiative to change the eligibility requirements for the California Children’s Services (CCS) Program and authorize the program to cover the costs of life-saving specialty drugs submitted signatures on May 9.
The total count of raw signatures submitted was not available on May 9. In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated state statute is equal to 5% of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election, which equals 546,651 signatures. Petitions are allowed to circulate for 180 days from the date the attorney general prepares the petition language. Signatures need to be certified at least 131 days before the general election, which is June 27, 2024.
The California Children’s Services Program, created in 1927, provides health care coverage for individuals under the age of 21 who are diagnosed with qualifying serious or chronic diseases and meet certain financial criteria.
The initiative would formally specify all qualifying diseases in state law by adopting the state Department of Health Care Services’s (DHCS) regulations and guidance as of January 1, 2022. The initiative would also require DHCS to collaborate with stakeholders every five years to determine whether additional diseases should be added to CCS’s qualifying list. If additional diseases are added, the initiative would require the state to pay counties for the associated additional costs of covering such diseases.
The initiative would also create a new financial assistance program through DHCS that covers a portion of medically necessary items and services to treat a qualifying disease regardless of family income level. The family would be responsible for a minimum amount of the items and services equal to the out-of-pocket expenses of certain health insurance plans offered in the Covered California marketplace. In 2024, this amount equated to $9,100 for most families.
The initiative would increase payments to hospitals by establishing a new grant program administered by DHCS that provides a grant to each hospital. The grant would total $200 times a hospital’s total number of days of inpatient services and the total number of outpatient visits provided to CCS children.
Because We Need Affordable Life-Saving Healthcare for our Critically Ill Children, sponsored by the California Children’s Hospital Association, is leading a campaign in support of the initiative. Through March 31, the campaign reported over $9.9 million in contributions.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, MemorialCare Health System and Affiliates, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital all contributed $1.4 million each.
Three other initiative campaigns are pending signature verification. The initiatives relate to a tax on managed care organizations, increased drug crime and theft penalties, and requiring health care providers to spend 98% of revenues from federal discount prescription drug programs on direct patient care.
Seven other citizen initiatives have already qualified for the ballot, including one veto referendum. The initiatives relate to requiring a personal finance course in high school, pandemic prevention, the state’s minimum wage, remediation for labor violations, vote requirements for new taxes, local rent control, and oil and gas well regulations. Californian voters will also be deciding on four legislatively constitutional amendments in November.
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