Advocacy Home | What is Advocacy | Civil Rights | Empowerment | Services

On July 28th, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the revised budget and related trailer bills. The revised budget calls for additional cuts to programs that already sustained significant reductions in the original February 2009-10 budget negotiations.

The Governor used his line item veto power to cut an additional $489 million in spending on health and social programs, the legality of which has been called into question (see below). Programs affected by these vetoes include In-Home Supportive Services, Medi-Cal and other mental health programs. To date, two lawsuits have been filed against the governor.

Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, in his individual capacity, filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court arguing that Schwarzenegger lacks the power to use line-item vetoes on a budget revision. Community health clinics and other affiliated groups filed suit in California's First District Court of Appeals aiming to block more than $200 million of the governor's line-item cuts.

These suits come on the heels of a lawsuit filed May 26th by the Gray Panthers of San Francisco in U.S. District Court to restore the nine Medi-Cal "optional" benefits that were eliminated on July 1st as part of the original 2009-10 budget package. A hearing in this case is set for August 19th in San Francisco and a sidewalk demonstration in support of the lawsuit will coincide with the hearing.

The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was signed by President Bush on October 3, 2008 as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The law's intent is to equalize the availability and provision of health and mental health services covered by major insurers.

Congress included a provision in the Act that requires mental health parity regulations to be issued by October 3, 2009.

As October 3rd approaches, Senator Al Franken (D-MN) has raised concerns that regulations will not be completed in the time period specified in the Act. He has authored a letter, signed by 26 fellow Senators, to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury expressing concerns that health plans will implement the law according to proposed regulations that they submitted.  

Insurance providers must comply with parity legislation within a year after the law's enactment, which, for most plans will be January 1, 2010.