Golden State Today

Sacramento, Calif. – Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., announced today that an initiative eligible for the November 5, 2024, General Election ballot has been withdrawn by the proponent.

The Attorney General's official title and summary of the initiative is as follows:

EXPANDS STATE HEALTH CARE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN WITH CERTAIN MEDICAL CONDITIONS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Expands California Children’s Services Program, which provides health care to low-middle income children under 21 with specified medical conditions, by requiring the state to provide:

- Financial assistance to families not eligible for Program services for certain out-of-pocket treatment costs for covered conditions;

- New annual grants to hospitals that provide Program services;

- Increased payment rates for physicians that are at least the federal Medicare rate; and

- Coverage for additional medical conditions including cancer, heart disease, certain infectious diseases, and cerebral palsy that are currently covered only by regulation, not by statute.

Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: State General Fund cost potentially ranging in the hundreds of millions of dollars to around a billion dollars each year to assist families with the cost of health care for children with qualifying serious and chronic diseases, as well as to increase payments to providers in the California Children’s Services program. (23-0029A1)

Pursuant to Elections Code section 9604(b), proponents may withdraw an initiative at any time before the Secretary of State certifies it as qualified.