Day 15 - 2/08/2007

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Both the House and Senate reconvened this morning after a 3 day recess.  The General Assembly will be in session tomorrow, February 9, 2007 and Saturday, February 10, 2007.  Saturday is Family Day at the Capitol.

At this morning’s Department of Community Health board meeting, Commissioner Rhonda Medows announced that PeachCare enrollment would be frozen as of March 11, 2007.  Moreover, we have learned that House leadership is planning to drop a bill that would limit PeachCare eligibility to 200% of the federal poverty level.

Voices for Georgia's Children and the GA-CAN! coalition partners including the PTA of Georgia, Families First, the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians, the March of Dimes, the Women’s Policy Group, and Health-STAT quickly organized a press conference to express opposition to any actions that affect benefits to current or future PeachCare enrollees.  The groups stated, loudly and clearly, that the legislature should make children’s health a priority and resolve the PeachCare funding shortfall without hurting Georgia’s children.  The press conference concluded with the statement that children’s health should not be a wager in a game of political poker between the state and the federal government, as it has been characterized in the media.