Decisions on the 2008 state budget are being made right now by the governor and our legislators. There may be a special session of the Maryland General Assembly in early November. It is critical that the budget include monies for health care expansion. Please contact your State Senator immediately. The Maryland Senate is where we need to focus our efforts to expand health insurance coverage.

The Maryland Women's Coalition for Health Care Reform believes that health care is a basic human right. Maryland is the richest state in the country. However, many of our adults and children do not have access to the health care they need. The following are steps we can take now to address this:

• Ask your State Senator to expand Medicaid coverage to 116% of the Federal poverty level. Maryland's Medicaid program coverage of adults is, on average, 36 to 43% of the Federal poverty level, one of the lowest in the country. We can do better for our lowest income adults.
• We also urge you to ask your State Senator to support health insurance coverage for ALL Maryland children - 100%. Of the 128,000 currently uninsured children in Maryland, about 90,000 are eligible under the state's Medicaid or MCHIP (our state's child health insurance program), but they are not enrolled. These are among the neediest of our children and there are some easy steps to enroll them. We can do better for our kids.
• To provide additional revenues, urge your State Senator to support the proposed $1 tax increase on tobacco as well as fees on alcohol, snack and sodas. These will reduce the use of these unhealthy products as well as provide necessary financing for health care expansions.

Please send an urgent email to your State Senator. You can find their contact information at http://www.mdelect.net

And, let us know when you have sent your message by contacting us at lenipreston@verizon.net.