As public workers, SEIU 721 members understand the importance of the state budget in funding critical services we provide our communities. Last week, the 2015-16 California state budget hearings began and SEIU members/Eligibility Workers went to Sacramento to make sure the voices of people relying on Medi-Cal health services were heard at the Health and Human Services hearings.
SEIU 721 Eligibility Workers/COPE members Elvia Malvido, Yolanda Floyd and Elidia Macias thanked the budget committee for the timely $150 million Medi-Cal Administration augmentation for the current year which will result in 1,500 more Eligibility Workers across the state. They also urged the committee to make sure that frontline workers were involved in coming up with best practices as well as the IT fixes in order to make the funds go further.
Eligibility Workers signed up 2.6 million Californians for Medi-Cal last year. And as SEIU 721 members implement the Affordable Care Act in California to expand health coverage for low-income residents, Eligibility Workers will continue to advocate for ways to improve the system to better serve the community.