The Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC) is proud to see a budget that advances and promotes Latinx Health – namely through investment to #Health4All, #Food4All, and Community Health Workers- in the Governor’s 2022 Budget Proposal. While these investments will advance access to life saving health benefits, LCHC continues to urge California leaders to prioritize sustainable investments in systemically disenfranchised communities by funding the CA Health Equity and Racial Justice Fund.
Latinxs in California continue to disproportionately experience health disparities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Latinxs make up almost 40% of California’s population, we still make up over 50% of cases and 45% of COVID-19 related deaths. Rates of chronic disease continue to increase for Latinxs – particularly in the areas of heart disease, diabetes, and mental health.
As we head into 2022, with yet another historic budget surplus totaling $45.7 billion, of which $20.6 billion are for discretionary purposes, the Governor’s 2022 budget proposal helps bridge funding gaps to further strengthen the State’s safety net for disproportionately impacted communities, and has the power to create a lasting impact in the health infrastructure of California. The Latino Coalition for a Healthy California is proud of Governor Newsom and his administration for a robust 2022-23 Budget Proposal.
“The Latino Coalition for a Healthy California applauds the Governor for developing a robust 2022-23 Budget Proposal that advances and promotes Latinx health. This includes historic investments in #Health4All, #Food4All, Community Health Workers, and additional critical investments in social determinants of health. We urge California leaders to prioritize sustainable health equity investments – including the Health Equity and Racial Justice Fund – in systematically disenfranchised communities.” said Dr. Jeffrey Reynoso, Executive Director, LCHC
LCHC Priority Budget Investments
- Food4All: The on-going commitment of $35.2 million General Fund, totaling to $113.4 million General Fund annually in 2025-26, will expand the CFAP program to Californians age 55 and older regardless of immigration status, based on statute included with the 2021 Budget Act. We are encouraged by these efforts that continue to prioritize benefits for all Californians – regardless of immigration status.
- Health4All: Ensuring every Californian has access to healthcare, regardless of immigration status with an investment of $2.7 billion to cover the remaining 26-49 year old gap to be fully implemented by 2024 will promote a just expansion to life saving health benefits. Additionally, although significant progress has been made to expand access to MediCal, a robust outreach and enrollment campaign must also be part of the implementation process for successful implementation of the Older Adult Expansion passed in the 2021-2022 budget. We encourage the Governor to make investments in the 2022-2023 budget to do outreach and enrollment for this latest expansion.
- Community Health Workers: LCHC proudly works directly with Community Health Workers to advance health and justice. We are pleased to see additional investments in building the Community Health Worker workforce with a $350 million one-time General Fund investment to recruit, train, and certify 25,000 new community health workers by 2025, in areas such as climate health, homelessness, and dementia.
- Public Health Infrastructure: LCHC supports increased investment in public health infrastructure – $300 million will support the California Department of Public Health of which, $200 million will go to local health jurisdictions to address to the state’s decaying public health infrastructure – an infrastructure that is at its capacity given the massive undertaking it has gone through to address the pandemic. However, public health departments cannot do it alone and we need to see the efforts of community-based organizations, tribal organizations, and clinics – a complementary component of the public health work – directly funded through the Health Equity and Racial Justice Fund.
- Master Plan for Aging: As a member of the Master Plan for Aging Equity Committee, LCHC is pleased to see that the budget includes $2.1 million ($1.8 million General Fund) to bolster the Master Plan for Aging’s Data Dashboard to drive outcomes and sustain public engagement for statewide initiatives through the Department of Aging, and strengthen civic engagement policies and programs in the California Commission on Aging.
- Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications: LCHC has been a committed partner with various State agencies and offices to ensure Latinx communities are informed of critical programs and policy changes impacting their lives. The $65 million investment in ongoing General Funds to create the new Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications will build on networks developed for Census 2020 and COVID-19 to strengthen public awareness and community engagement campaigns.
Health Equity and Racial Justice
We are disappointed to learn that the Governor has not included the Health Equity and Racial Justice Fund in the 2022 Budget. Our Fund seeks to directly resource community-based organizations, clinics and tribal organizations to (1) transform community conditions and institutional/government systems to promote health equity and racial justice and (2) reduce specific health and social disparities that impact communities of color and low income communities through innovative community-developed solutions. We know that our public systems are overwhelmed, particularly as they try to address the on-going impacts of the pandemic. And yet there is a sector that has continued to show up to assist their own communities and complements our public systems: the not-for-profit sector that comes in the form of community-based organizations, trusted home-grown messengers, tribal organizations, and clinics. We urge the Governor to keep his promise of committing at least $100 million in Health Equity funding. We must fund these organizations to continue to build trusted relationships between communities and public agencies for health equity and racial justice.
Full Budget Summary can be found here.
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About LCHC:
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC)—the only statewide organization with a specific emphasis on Latino health—was founded by health care providers, consumers and advocates in 1992 to impact Latino health by focusing on policy development, providing enhanced information, and community involvement.
