News Stories

Pharmacies in pain over pending Medi-Cal cut
San Jose Mercury News - 07-01-2008 - The state's 10 percent cut in reimbursements, which affects doctors as well as pharmacists, is slated to take effect today. "We can't afford to fill prescriptions at below cost," said Bettencourt, who owns Bruce's Medical Plaza Pharmacy on Water Street. "We can't make it up selling potato chips." One customer, frustrated by what the cut would mean for him, yelled at store staff Friday, then called Monday to apologize.

How California budget deadlock affects health care
Sacramento Bee - 06-29-2008 - A south Sacramento pharmacist says he'll stop accepting new Medi-Cal patients starting Tuesday because the state will begin paying him 10 percent less for their prescriptions – not enough to cover the cost of drugs. A Plumas County hospital district is making plans to close the only emergency room in a 1,200-square-mile area of the Sierra Nevada because the rural health care provider won't get paid by the state unless lawmakers pass and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a budget by the end of July.

Budget cuts could hurt child
Daily Breeze - 06-29-2008 - Anna Anderson, a Redondo Beach mother of two, is paying close attention to state budget talks these days - the care of her oldest son, a quadriplegic, is at stake. Historic cuts to the state's Medi-Cal program proposed to go into effect Tuesday could force the Andersons to move Raymond, 5, from an acute care facility in Orange for children with special needs.

Medi-Cal providers bracing for pay cut
Modesto Bee - 06-29-2008 - The budget ax is going to fall Tuesday on health care providers who serve patients in the state's Medi-Cal program. A lawsuit by health industry groups and lobbying efforts have done nothing to stop the 10 percent cuts in Medi-Cal reimbursements for physicians, hospitals and dentists. In addition, pharmacies will receive smaller payments for filling prescriptions for patients covered by Medi-Cal, the state's health program for the poor.

Spend on healthcare, not paperwork
Los Angeles Times - 06-27-2008 - With the state budget in such dismal shape, it's all the more important to spend money wisely, on those who need it most -- and not on increasing paperwork. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Senate should drop proposals that would force the parents of children on Medi-Cal to re-enroll them more than the current once a year. The governor has called for renewal four times a year; after the Assembly rejected that idea, the Senate floated a compromise of twice a year.

Planned Medi-Cal cuts put squeeze on local pharmacy
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin - 06-27-2008 - Proposed Medi-Cal cuts are hurting a local pharmacy even before the state budget is passed. "I had to call the electric company and ask them not to shut us off," said Anita Eble, secretary at Star Drug and Gift. The small pharmacy was notified Monday it would not be receiving weekly reimbursement for prescriptions given to Medi-Cal patients until Wednesday. The pharmacy received a check for $0 with a note indicating the reimbursement would be delayed.

Governor's Medi-Cal cuts unacceptable
Visalia Daily Times - 06-27-2008 - When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed his budget for the next fiscal year, he unveiled his approach to reducing the administration's estimates of an operating deficit of approximately $20 billion. As part of his efforts to balance the budget, he proposed significant cuts in the Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and traditional clinic programs.

Huge health-care cuts loom
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin - 06-26-2008 - San Bernardino County officials are already preparing for the anticipated steep cuts in their health-care budget as they wait for the state budget to be finalized. "We're not at all sure what is going to happen," said Jim Lindley, county public health director. L indley said the county has developed plans for both a 10percent and 20percent cut in state funding. Neither scenario includes layoffs in public health. San Bernardino County's public health budget last year was $115million.

Governor's plan would cut health coverage for 1 million, study says
Sacramento Bee - 06-26-2008 - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would eliminate or deny health care coverage to more than 1 million people, the largest rollback in state history, according to a study released Wednesday. Hospital emergency rooms would become more crowded, driving up uncompensated costs, which would be passed on to insured people through higher premiums, according to Dr. Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Association.

Medi-Cal Tripple Whammy
San Diego Union Tribune - 06-26-2008 - It's one of the toughest years ever for providers of Medi-Cal, the state-federal $36 billion health-care program for 6.6 million needy Californians. To help close a huge state budget gap, Medi-Cal provider rates are being cut 10 percent, payments are being delayed for a month or more, and a $2 billion fund created to make payments when there is no budget will not last long.

Medi-Cal suit moves to state court
Sacramento Bee - 06-24-2008 - Doctors and health care providers facing a 10 percent cut to Medi-Cal reimbursements won a minor court victory today. A federal judge in Los Angeles sided with plaintiffs in deciding which court had jurisdiction over the lawsuit and ordered the case be moved back to state court.

State budget delays to make Inland Medi-Cal patients' providers wait
Riverside Press Enterprise - 06-24-2008 - The Inland health maintenance organization that handles Medi-Cal coverage for nearly 350,000 low-income residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties will slash or stop payments to doctors and hospitals if state lawmakers don't pass a budget by the end of the month.

Response mixed to proposal to limit Medi-Cal benefits
Ventura County Star - 06-23-2008 - In the waiting room of an Oxnard clinic where mothers rock crying children and a television is tuned to "SpongeBob SquarePants," Medi-Cal is used as a key. It allows farmworkers and other people here to open doors to doctors, medicine and care that would otherwise be unaffordable. But a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could change the locks and is reigniting battles over government healthcare for legal and illegal immigrants.

NorthBay Healthcare trims $15 million from budget
North Bay Business Journal - 06-16-2008 - NorthBay Healthcare, which operates two hospitals and several medical buildings in Solano County, recently announced that expected Medi-Cal cuts have forced officials to implement a 5 percent mid-year cut in the group’s budget, resulting in layoffs, dropped services and closure of one occupational medicine site. About 25 percent of the nonprofit’s revenues come from the state, and the group’s two hospitals are considered disproportionate-share facilities because the portion of its patients on Medi-Cal or Medicare is more than a typical hospital’s patient load.

State budget would cut health care for poorest
Santa Rosa Press Democrat - 06-12-2008 - The possible cuts include $73.8 million that would eliminate adult dental benefits. For the Russian River Dental Clinic, the loss is expected to be $313,000, well over 40 percent of its $724,310 operating budget. More than 1,400 patients receiving dental care there would be affected.

Pharmacies file suit to stop cut in Medi-Cal reimbursement
Sacramento Business Journal - 06-10-2008 - Eight retail pharmacies -- including two in Sacramento -- have filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Health Care Services to stop a 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal reimbursement from taking effect on July 1. The eight pharmacies, including Pucci's Leader Pharmacy and South Sacramento Pharmacy, fear the cut will have a drastic impact on California's network of pharmacies as well as tragic consequences for Medi-Cal patients.

Dental clinic feels bite of state budget cut
San Jose Mercury News - 06-09-2008 - Dientes, the nonprofit clinic that provides dental care to people who can't afford it, faces an uncertain future. To balance the state budget, the governor proposes to eliminate funding for adult dental treatment and cutbacks in care for children. "This is devastating for us," said Dr. Hugo Ferlito, a dentist with 35 years experience who serves as Dientes' clinical director.

Eight California Pharmacies File Lawsuit
ReadMedia - 06-09-2008 - Today, eight retail community pharmacies filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Health Care Services and its director Sandra Shewry to stop the ten percent Medi-Cal provider cuts to pharmacies from going into effect on July 1, 2008.

Loss of Medi-Cal would be devastating
Visalia Times-Delta - 06-05-2008 - In 2007, Gov. Schwarzenegger decided that in order to combat California's $14.5 billion budget deficit, the state must cut its spending by 10 percent across the board. A seemingly small number, 10 percent will in fact be devastating to the multiple programs that rely on government support. One that will be particularly hard hit is Medi-Cal. Many recognize Medi-Cal as a health insurance program designed to make health care affordable to low-income families.

Dental care for disabled may grow even scarcer
Los Angeles Times - 06-04-2008 - With cuts to the state's Denti-Cal program scheduled to go into effect in July and another round of cutbacks already on the table, there could soon be even fewer. Finding dentists to care for patients with disabilities is a challenge under the best of circumstances, said Dr. Paul Glassman, co-director of the Pacific Center for Special Care at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco.

Governor's Medi-Cal Cost-Cutting Plan Could Disrupt Benefits For Poor
KPBS - 06-03-2008 - Governor Schwarzenegger says the state can save money on the Medi-Cal program by making recipients prove their eligibility four times a year. Advocacy groups say that would cause many low-income Californians to lose their health benefits. KPBS reporter Kenny Goldberg has more. Currently, adults on Medi-Cal have to prove their eligibility twice a year. The governor says by changing that to four times a year, the state could save $70 million annually. Some predict hundreds of thousands of recipients could lose their benefits as a result.

County health services brace for budget hit
San Luis Obispo.com - 06-03-2008 - The state’s financial turmoil is threatening county health services aimed at low-income and mentally ill residents. An anticipated $1.5 million shortfall in funding and stagnant Medi-Cal reimbursement rates likely will create a ripple effect, threatening a variety of public programs, health agency Director Jeff Hamm said. Hamm and other agency administrators recently identified 18 reductions he said must be made if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget is passed unchanged.

County health services brace for budget hit
Monterey Bay Herald - 06-02-2008 - When the next round of cuts in state MediCal spending starts next month, some folks who hate paying taxes for the benefit of others will applaud. They'll be pleased to know that government is making it harder on those at the bottom of the pecking order. They also may appreciate President Bush's plan for further cuts to the expensive Medicare and Medicaid systems, cuts that would help undermine Natividad Medical Center's efforts toward solvency.

Effort to find ineligible Medi-Cal recipients worries some
San Francisco Chronicle (AP) - 06-01-2008 - The ailing California budget has state officials looking at ways to cut the ranks of Medi-Cal recipients who are no longer eligible for the program that provides critical medical coverage for the poor, elderly and disabled. Advocacy groups, however, worry that a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger requiring recipients to provide more frequent updates on their financial and residential status amounts to a sneaky way to cut benefits for those who are eligible, including children.

Everyone will pay more if Medi-Cal is slashed
San Jose Mercury News - 05-29-2008 - With a recession looming, there might be a worse time to reduce health care funding for low-income families, but I doubt it. Yet that's just what the state is planning to do. The governor's May budget revision would slash $1 billion from Medi-Cal, the federal program that provides health coverage to low-income Californians - and the reduction in state spending would be doubled by the loss of another billion dollars in federal matching funds. To make matters worse, the cuts are taken from the pockets of the diminishing number of doctors and hospitals that are already grossly underpaid for treating Medi-Cal patients.

Governor's Proposed Cuts May Hurt Entire System, Not Just Medi-Cal, Experts Fear
California Healthline - 05-29-2008 - In a California Healthline Special Report, leaders of organizations representing doctors and hospitals, along with an advocate for low-income people discussed the potential impact of proposed cuts to the state's Medi-Cal system. * Free Subscription Required

Immigrants Hit Hard by Governor's Planned Medi-Cal Cuts, Changes
California Healthline - 05-27-2008 - What a difference five months and a skidding economy can make. In January, Californians were talking about a major overhaul of the state's health system that would bring affordable coverage to almost everyone in the state. Instead, the state now faces deep cuts in Medi-Cal that many say will swell the ranks of the state's 6.7 million uninsured and could inflict lasting damage to the system. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program. * Free Subscription Required

Medi-Cal cuts put pharmacies at risk
San Bernardino Sun - 05-26-2008 - Instead of proposing a long-term, viable solution to California's budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for a 10 percent across-the-board cut for all departments. When pressed about this strategy, he stated that he did this to "rattle cages" to get the Legislature and all Californians to think about alternative solutions to the budget crisis. However, his "solution" has caused a firestorm of anger with educators, labor unions, and health-care advocates among others who have come out fighting. There's not a group out there who won't feel the stinging effects of these cuts beginning July 1.

Older L.A. County adults suffer from inadequate dental care
Los Angeles Times - 05-22-2008 - Older adults in Los Angeles County are severely lacking dental insurance and many have cut back on oral healthcare because they cannot afford it, according to a broad new survey of men and women age 60 and older released this week. Of almost 16,500 older residents polled by city and county agencies on aging, nearly two-thirds said they had inadequate or no dental insurance, nearly 20% said they lacked affordable dental care and almost a third had not had a dental exam in three years.

Legal immigrants fight proposed cuts in Medi-Cal, aid to elderly
Sacramento Bee - 05-20-2008 - Now, to the dismay of many patients and health care advocates, the governor's budget seeks to eliminate most dental benefits for nearly 3 million poor, disabled and elderly people in California who rely on state-paid dental insurance.

California's Needy Face the Budget Ax
News10.net - 05-20-2008 - Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget plan calls for reduce Medi-Cal spending by $5 billion. "People are already low and stressed and don't have services," Pierson explained. "To deny them more services is just going to impact their health even more." Earlier this month the California Medical Association filed a class action lawsuit against the state on behalf of seven large health care providers. They want to stop 10 percent cuts in Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal reimbursements.

State budget to chop dental benefits for poor
San Francisco Chronicle - 05-20-2008 - Now, to the dismay of many patients and health care advocates, the governor's budget seeks to eliminate most dental benefits for nearly 3 million poor, disabled and elderly people in California who rely on state-paid dental insurance.

Dentists, seniors warn against plan to cut dental benefits for adults on Medi-Cal
Oakland Tribune - 05-20-2008 - Advocates for seniors and the low-income gathered at a Fruitvale district health clinic Monday to decry the governor's proposal to eliminate dental benefits for adult recipients of Medi-Cal. The cut is one of many Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed to help close the state's $17.2 billion deficit.

Remote Hospitals Face Tough Road Ahead with Budget Cuts
89.3 KPCC - 05-19-2008 - Governor Schwarzenegger backed off many of the budget cuts he proposed in January to offset the state's $15 billion deficit. He dropped most cuts to education and a threat to close state parks. Schwarzenegger released his revised budget proposal last week and it included deepened cuts to health care providers.

Medi-Cal cut could hurt patient care, East Bay doctors say
Oakland Tribune - 05-18-2008 - Nearly two-thirds of East Bay doctors who treat Medi-Cal patients say they will scale back or stop seeing such patients entirely when a 10 percent cut in reimbursement rates takes effect July 1.

Letters to the editor: A Bad Idea to Cut Budget
Sacramento Bee - 05-18-2008 - The new Senate Republican minority leader, is quoted in The Bee as recommending a solution to the state budget shortfall by cutting unspecified spending and tapping special accounts that would otherwise go for mental health services and health programs.

Governor’s revise keeps Grizzly Creek park open; Medi-Cal, students take hit
Eureka Reporter - 05-16-2008 - Another $31 million in savings will come at the expense of two-parent households in the Medi-Cal program. The allowable income will be reduced to 61 percent of the Federal Poverty Level and a rule requiring the primary wage earner to work no more than 100 hours per month will be reinstated.

Little local enthusiasm for budget
The Reporter - 05-16-2008 - The governor's proposed cuts in Medi-Cal reimbursements are also unwelcomed news at NorthBay Healthcare, which operates VacaValley Hospital and NorthBay Medical Center. "This is all bad news for us and for hospitals in general," said NorthBay Healthcare President and CEO Gary Passama after seeing what the governor presented in his May revise.

SVH hit by state budget cuts
Sonoma Valley News - 05-15-2008 - The cut will work out to a loss of $250,000 a year for the small district hospital, which currently receives around $10,000 a day from the state for treating Medi-Cal patients.

Higher taxes put on table
Riverside Press Enterprise - 05-14-2008 - Raising the possibility of a tax increase, Gov. Schwarzenegger unveiled a revised spending plan Wednesday that includes new cuts to health and social programs and hinges on voters agreeing to a major expansion of the state lottery... Wednesday's budget revision is "as bad as before plus worse," said Dr. Dev Gnanadev, medical director at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton and president-elect of the California Medical Association.

Health Care - Proposal
San Francisco Chronicle - 05-14-2008 - The budget would cut $1.04 billion from health and human services that were proposed in January's budget for a total reduction of $3.4 billion. Under a $1.1 billion cut to Medi-Cal - which serves 6.6 million people in the state - tens of thousands of poor residents would receive fewer medical services... Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Association, which is part of a lawsuit to block the Medi-Cal reductions, says the cuts would "shut doctors' offices, hospitals, pharmacies and clinics across California."

Health Care Advocates Brace for Deeper Cuts in Revised Budget
California Healthline - 05-13-2008 - The Schwarzenegger administration briefed health care advocates on Tuesday to warn them that cuts to Medi-Cal and other health care programs would remain in a revised budget proposal that Gov. Schwarzenegger will release today. Some advocates said they were alerted that the budget also would seek to tighten eligibility rules for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. * Subscription Required

Hospitals Struggle with Medi-Cal Cuts
KPCC.com - 05-13-2008 - Medi-Cal is California's health insurance for anyone out of work or too poor to pay for medical care. In January, state legislators cut Medi-Cal by ten-percent to help reduce the state's multi-billion dollar deficit. But the cut means hospitals that treat Medi-Cal patients won't be reimbursed for the full cost of care. KPCC's Julie Small says this could affect you if anyone in your family is severely disabled.

Lawsuits challenging Medi-Cal budget cuts
Gridley Herald - 05-07-2008 - A lawsuit has been filed by the California Hospital Association, as part of a coalition of Medi-Cal providers, against the State of California, challenging the Medi-Cal budget cuts scheduled to take effect July 1, 2008.

California Pharmacists Association files suit to block reimbursement cuts
Drug Topics - 05-07-2008 - The California Pharmacists Association has joined with state medical, dental, hospital, and other provider organizations in filing a lawsuit to block the state of California from implementing a 10% across-the-board cut in reimbursements for the Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal programs.

California Doctors, Hospitals Sue State Over Medicaid Cuts
Wall Street Journal - 05-06-2008 - A group of doctors, hospitals and other providers is suing the state to block the move, which they argue would illegally cut the poor’s access to care. The complaint, filed yesterday in Los Angeles, says the cuts were “solely due to state budgetary woes, without regard to the impact on the availability of Medi-Cal services.”

Suit filed to block Medi-Cal rate cuts
San Francisco Chronicle - 05-06-2008 - An influential coalition of health care organizations sued the state Monday to block a 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal rates set to take effect this summer. The cuts would put Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal, safety net programs for the state's poor, on the verge of a "health-care catastrophe," said officials for the coalition. Some 6.6 million people in California receive Medi-Cal; 774,000 of them in the Bay Area.

Health care providers challenge cuts to Medi-Cal
Sacramento Bee - 05-06-2008 - The lawsuit challenges the single- biggest program reduction that elected officials have been willing to accept thus far as the state faces a deficit Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said could be as high as $20 billion.

Prescription for loss
Stockton Record - 04-27-2008 - California's pharmacists - as the gatekeepers of the state's medicine cabinets - have a gut-wrenching decision to make come July 1, when Medi-Cal prescription reimbursements are scheduled to be cut by 10 percent.

Proposed Medi-Cal changes would hurt state, group says
Ventura County Star - 04-26-2008 - New Medi-Cal regulations proposed by President Bush would cost California $10.8 billion in federal healthcare funding over the next five years, a national consumer group reported Friday.

Editorial: High cost - Why It Makes No Sense to Cut Medi-Care
Press Democrat - 04-23-2008 - In a couple of weeks, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will release a revised state budget plan. Californians should hope that, in one area in particular, the governor revises his slash-and-burn approach to spending cuts: Medi-Cal.

Fewer Riverside County doctors would treat Medi-Cal patients if state budget cuts come to fruition
Riverside Press Enterprise - 04-16-2008 - Some Riverside County doctors who see Medi-Cal patients say they will stop accepting or will reduce office hours with patients enrolled in the program if the state follows through with plans to cut their payments.

Read the transcripts from Schwarzenegger's Eureka visit
Times Standard - 04-10-2008 - With the proposed 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal our two hospitals will lose a million, $950,000. We certainly didn't anticipate in our pro formulas increases in Medi-Cal payments and they're woefully inadequate when you compare them to Medicare and Blue Cross and other insurance company-type payments. So we're looking at some real serious implications that if we have to take that close to $2 million hit, how it's going to affect the construction project here in Eureka going forward...

Medi-Cal cuts hollowing out care for poor
Record Searchlight - 04-08-2008 - Shasta County's complaints might be more than a cry in the wilderness this year, as it's joined by urban counties with more clout. San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom has threatened to sue the state to reverse the recent Medi-Cal cuts. And the Riverside County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted last week to drop its Medi-Cal mental health program if the state doesn't pay more.

Minority doctors in short supply in state
Sacramento Bee - 04-03-2008 - The disparities, some argue, threaten an already fragile and uneven system of care for underserved minority communities who tend to have a harder time getting access to care and whose health problems often are more severe when they do.

Riverside County threatens to pull out of Medi-Cal mental health program
Riverside Press Enterprise - 04-01-2008 - As California has struggled financially, payments to counties to fund social services have decreased, often forcing local officials to pony up money to keep the programs running.

Local Pharmacist on 15 Day Fast to Protest Governor's Medi-Cal Budget Cuts
Centre Daily Times - 03-31-2008 - Local Pharmacist Ira Freeman, RPh, of Key Pharmacy, is in his 11th day of a 15 day fast. He's fasting to protest the Governor's proposed 10% Medi-Cal providers cuts, which will negatively affect all Medi-Cal beneficiaries and the pharmacies that serve them.

Mayor to sue for Medi-Cal money
San Francisco Examiner - 03-28-2008 - The nearly 115,000 San Francisco residents enrolled in Medi-Cal may have a harder time getting to see a doctor, industry officials said, and that mayor is ready to sue.

State ignores law requiring annual Medi-Cal payment studies
Sacramento Bee - 03-28-2008 - When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers agreed last month to cut 10 percent from what the state pays Medi-Cal doctors, they did so without knowing how it might further limit services to the poor... Led by the California Medical Association, the coalition is being joined by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is considering a run for governor in 2010.

Editorial: Medi-Cal cuts are budgetary fake
San Francisco Examiner - 03-27-2008 - Medi-Cal — the state’s indigent-patient Medicaid program — absorbs $15 billion from the general fund and is California’s second-biggest expenditure, after education.

Study finds widespread care disparities in Medi-Cal program
UCLA Newsroom - 03-27-2008 - In the first external analysis of the California Department of Health Service's Medi-Cal Managed Care program, researchers from the UCLA Department of Family Medicine found widespread health care disparities based on ethnicity, race and language throughout the system.

S.F. judge won't dismiss Medi-Cal challenge
San Francisco Chronicle - 03-27-2008 - A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit by San Francisco and Santa Clara counties challenging the state's policy of dropping low-income youths from Medi-Cal when they are held in juvenile hall.

Newsom ready to sue over cuts in Medi-Cal
San Francisco Chronicle - 03-26-2008 - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is considering a run for governor in 2010, injected himself into California's heated budget battle Tuesday by threatening to sue the state over cuts to its medical insurance program for the poor.

SF Mayor Newsom threatens lawsuit over cuts to Medi-Cal program
Sacramento Bee (AP) - 03-26-2008 - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom criticized $600 million in cuts to the Medi-Cal program Tuesday, saying it will devastate California's ability to provide health care to the poor and elderly.

An exodus from Medi-Cal
Los Angeles Times - 03-24-2008 - After San Diego ear, nose and throat physician Ted Mazer recently billed the state's medical insurance program for the poor for a tonsillectomy, he got a check for $168, too little to cover surgical costs. The balance came out of his pocket. Now legislators have cut the rates even further, leaving Mazer resolved to shut his doors to new Medi-Cal patients. Almost every other specialist in his field countywide has already done the same, he said.

Medi-Cal faces delay in treatment approvals
Sacramento Bee - 03-23-2008 - Pharmacists, medical equipment suppliers and senior-care providers say delays in Medi-Cal treatment approvals are causing hardships for them and their patients.

Low Reimbursements Cause California Doctors To Reject Medi-Cal Patients
AHN - 03-23-2008 - California doctors are shunning Medi-Cal patients over the low reimbursements that they have been getting. In 2000, half of the state's physicians were already turning away Medi-Cal patients after the medics increased their rates. Since then more medical practitioners have closed their doors to Medi-Cal patients.

Medi-Cal pay delay a worry
Ventura County Star - 03-22-2008 - Community clinics anticipate borrowing as much as $2 million, nursing homes could cut back on services and some small homes for the developmentally disabled could be put out of business because of delays in Medi-Cal payments this summer.

Stanislaus County's poor facing health cuts
Modesto Bee - 03-18-2008 - The MIA program provides medical care for about 6,100 men and women who are not eligible for Medi-Cal, Medicare or other public programs. It's not obligated to offer mental health services, but as is true in the private sector, the county's primary care doctors receive numerous requests to see patients with serious mental disorders.

Lassen County ambulance service losing because Medi-Cal doesn't pay its fair share
Lassen County News - 03-18-2008 - MediCal pays less then 20 percent of actual costs. It pays about $199 per ambulance transport, according to Staffan’s financial report. Each transport costs SEMSA $805, the highest ambulance service rates in the state.

The Homeless: Hidden and without health care
OC Register - 03-18-2008 - The program's mission is to connect the homeless to health and medical services. As Michael L. Riley, the chief deputy director of the county's Social Services Agency put it: "It's one thing to have services and outreach to families in need, but it's another thing to get them to the services."

Community will suffer the loss of mental health care
Press Demo - 03-16-2008 - When the Memorial Hospital Fulton Campus inpatient unit closes, the situation for adults in need of acute behavioral health care will be just as bleak as it is now for kids and teens in crisis.

Medi-Cal cuts would lock poor out of health care, experts contend
Stockton Record - 03-13-2008 - The governor's state budget proposal that includes a 10 percent cut for Medi-Cal will shut doors for many low-income families enrolled in the program, because the reduction on Medi-Cal physician reimbursement rates will cause many doctors, especially specialized physicians, to stop taking the insurance, local medical professionals said.

S.B. County frets over state cuts
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin - 03-12-2008 - Saber rattling on budget cuts from Sacramento could translate into a cut of nearly $31 million for San Bernardino County's hospital, human services, public health and public safety agencies, according to a budget report from the county.

Coalition sues to head off Medicaid cuts
San Francisco Chronicle - 03-12-2008 - A coalition representing public hospitals in the Bay Area and the rest of the nation filed a federal suit Tuesday to stop the Bush administration from implementing a sweeping Medicaid regulation that would lead to $5 billion in funding cuts to "safety net" hospitals.

Study finds treatment for Hispanics lacking at U.S. hospitals
New Jersey.com - 03-11-2008 - Most elderly Hispanics receive care in highly segregated hospitals where treatment for common conditions like heart attacks and pneumonia often goes lacking, according to study released today.

Health Views Differ Along Ethnic Lines
San Francisco Chronicle (AP) - 03-11-2008 - Minorities are more likely than white patients to rate their health care as fair or poor, a view that is particularly true among Chinese-Americans, blacks born in Africa and Vietnamese-Americans.

The California Report
The California Report - 03-10-2008 - Audio File

Safety net unraveling as county health care role diminishes
The Press Democrat - 03-09-2008 - In a trend that has rapidly escalated over the past year, the holes in Sonoma County's health care safety net are widening as patients with mental and other medical problems are being shifted from hospitals and clinics to community-based groups.

Report: State cuts would hurt Napa
Napa Valley Register - 03-08-2008 - The rich won’t have to worry about state budget cuts, but the poor will. That’s the California Budget Project’s analysis of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed spending cuts to deal with the state’s $16 billion budget deficit.

Budget ills threaten clinics
Frenso Bee - 03-08-2008 - The state's cash crunch might force low-income health clinics in the Valley to cut back services or even shut their doors this summer.

S.F. health agency ready to OK cuts
San Francisco Chronicle - 03-05-2008 - Nurses won't be making home visits to their homebound patients anymore, and operating rooms at San Francisco General Hospital will be closed eight hours a day.

California's budget woes poised to give Riverside County an $80 million problem
Riverside Press Enterprise - 02-27-2008 - Riverside County could see $80 million in cuts and delayed payments from the state -- mainly for social service and mental health programs -- under Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed budget.

Dems to detail governor's cuts in schools, health
Sacramento Bee - 02-27-2008 - Senate Democrats mapped out a 10-week budget strategy on Tuesday that will emphasize the impact of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to health care and education.

Governor's plan would cut Medi-Cal rolls
San Francisco Chronicle - 02-25-2008 - Less than a month ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was pushing lawmakers to pass a landmark program aimed at bringing health care coverage to 6.8 million uninsured Californians.

A thoughtful plan for fixing state's budget
San Jose Mercury News - 02-24-2008 - Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill has given legislators what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to provide: a rational budget, with specific cuts and fewer accounting gimmicks. She also suggested what Schwarzenegger couldn't bring himself to propose: higher taxes.

Advocates for disabled, seniors fight budget cuts
Oakland Tribune - 02-23-2008 - The Alameda County Coalition on the State Budget Crisis, a consortium of 15 organizations, held a forum at the Marina Community Center to rally support behind the group's efforts to stifle the budget cuts and bring awareness to the burden the plan could place on seniors, people with disabilities and others.

Budget Cuts Called "Unconscionable"
Black Voice News Online - 02-21-2008 - Schools and Doctors who serve the Poor Hardest Hit; Rialto Serves Notice on 400 Teachers...

Senate panel votes to cut state expenditures
Los Angeles Times - 02-14-2008 - State lawmakers Wednesday night moved on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call for emergency cuts to the state budget, with a Senate panel voting to reduce spending in schools, healthcare and other services by roughly $2 billion.

Memorial cutting 212 jobs
Press Democrat - 02-14-2008 - Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital will close the only inpatient psychiatric care unit in Sonoma County and lay off 212 employees as part of cost-cutting efforts, hospital officials announced Wednesday.

Marin officials say counties, cities to feel impact of state budget deficit
Ventura County Star - 02-13-2008 - The state’s $14.5 billion deficit will trickle down to public budgets in Marin County and elsewhere...

North Bay officials say mental health services are broken
North Bay Business Journal - 02-11-2008 - With the final state budget soon expected, health officials are beginning preparations to bear their portion of the burden.

Proposed Medi-Cal cuts worry health groups
Ventura County Star - 01-31-2008 - Clinics for poor families might struggle to stay afloat. People who have no insurance or are covered by Medi-Cal could be unable to find a doctor.

State cuts would hit elderly, mentally ill hardest
San Francisco Examiner - 01-30-2008 - The Peninsula’s most vulnerable — children, the elderly and the mentally ill — will likely bear the brunt of California’s fiscal crisis...

Review warns of forfeiting $1.5 billion in federal money
Sacramento Bee - 01-15-2008 - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed austerity budget would sacrifice an estimated $1.5 billion in federal money by slashing the state spending necessary to qualify for the matching funds, according to an Assembly analysis.

Health care overhaul to finally be scrutinized
San Diego Union-Tribune - 01-14-2008 - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to win kudos from around the country for his campaign to extend health insurance coverage.

Where cuts could hurt
Sacramento Bee - 01-13-2008 - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's sweeping state spending proposal leaves few Californians untouched...

Governor's budget aims to curb spending mandates
San Francisco Chronicle - 01-13-2008 - With California in a deep budget hole, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is basing his state fiscal recovery plan on curbing mandated spending for public schools and health care...

Reaction to Schwarzenegger's state budget proposals
San Francisco Chronicle - 01-10-2008 - Here is a sample of the reaction to state budget proposals announced Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced...

Ambition, reality at odds in governor's budget
Los Angeles Times - 01-11-2008 - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious policy agenda collided with fiscal reality Thursday...