News Stories
Judge's ruling backs cuts in Medi-Cal benefits
San Francisco Chronicle - 06/25/2009 - A Superior Court judge in Sacramento County has rejected arguments that pending budget cuts to eliminate adult Medi-Cal dental benefits offered by low-income community and rural clinics violated federal law. Judge Timothy Frawley, in a ruling made public Wednesday, said the Legislature was within its rights when it voted in February to save the state money by cutting adult Denti-Cal benefits, along with other benefits including podiatry and optometry, effective July 1.
Big changes to Medi-Cal will affect 100,000 in county
Ventura County Star - 06-02-2009 - The jury is still out on whether coming changes in the way Medi-Cal is run will help more than 100,000 poor people in Ventura County and the doctors and hospitals that take care of them. But a Ventura County Board of Supervisors vote Tuesday made it clear changes are coming. County healthcare leaders are planning the transformation of the state-run Medi-Cal into a locally administered managed care program, which will alter how treatment is delivered and how providers are paid.
Judges block state from cutting Medi-Cal rates
San Francisco Chronicle - 04-09-2009 - A federal appeals court has halted California's 5 percent cut in Medi-Cal rates for hospitals, a reduction that was intended to save the state $80 million a year. Legislators and state health officials lowered Medi-Cal payments, effective March 1, without examining the effects on quality of care, the economy or poor people's access to health services, as required by federal law, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
State cuts to Medi-Cal, in-home care to take toll on poor, disabled
Riverside Press Enterprise - 04-06-2009 - Thousands of poor, elderly and disabled Inland residents will lose their state-funded medical and dental coverage and social services on July 1 because California will not receive enough federal stimulus money to prevent nearly $1 billion in program cuts. The cuts will include close to $125 million in Medi-Cal benefits, including adult dental, optometric and optician, podiatry, speech therapy and audiology services. Another $78 million will come from In-Home Supportive Services, which includes a caregiver wage cap of $9.50 per hour, reduced from $12.10 per hour.
Medi-Cal funding targeted in new bills
Capitol Weekly - 03-06-2009 - A move to capture billions of dollars in federal stimulus money for health care has begun in the Legislature, where Democrats hope to fend off potential Republican opposition with special-session legislation that requires only a simple-majority vote. At stake is at least $10 billion, perhaps more, that is expected to flow to Medi-Cal, California's health care program for the poor. Medi-Cal, financed with a mix of state and federal money, has a $38 billion budget and serves 6.7 million people. But California can't get the money - which could be $11.23 billion over 27 months -- unless it agrees to make changes in Medi-Cal eligibility rules.
Cut in Medi-Cal payments to pharmacies blocked
San Francisco Chronicle - 02-28-2009 - A federal judge blocked a 5 percent cut in Medi-Cal payments to pharmacies Friday, a victory for druggists and their low-income customers but a potential $92 million blow to the state. In heading off reductions set to take effect Sunday, U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder of Los Angeles said state health officials and lawmakers had failed to consider the requirements of federal law. The law requires states to set rates that will support quality care and equal access to health services for poor people.
Funds earmarked for Medi-Cal
Times-Herald - 02-24-2009 - California is slated to receive nearly $2 billion for the Medi-Cal program from the federal stimulus package passed by Congress last week. President Barack Obama announced on Monday the expedited release of $15 billion in Medicaid assistance funds provided by the federal stimulus package, signed into law last week. California's Medicaid program is known as Medi-Cal. The assistance will mostly affect the state's general Medi-Cal fund and will have limited, if any, direct county impact, said Christiana Smith, deputy director of employment and eligibility for Solano County Health and Social Services.
Medi-Cal cuts put pressure on counties
San Francisco Chronicle - 02-20-2009 - The budget shifts $54 million away from county and UC hospitals. It eliminates money paid to counties for Medi-Cal eligibility processing, and it could potentially do away with some adult Medi-Cal services for several million people. But the budget rejects the governor's proposal to drop more than 500,000 people from Medi-Cal. If voters approve, the budget would put into place spending caps and redirect money from a tobacco tax that funds children's services. It would do the same with a tax on the wealthy that was designed to expand state mental health services. The plan cuts $100 million from to regional centers that provide services to the developmentally disabled.
State Medi-Cal to get $10 billion infusion
Capitol Weekly - 02-19-2009 - California’s Medi-Cal program, a state-federal system that provides health care to 6.7 million people, is expected to receive at least $10 billion – more than a fourth of its entire budget – as part of federal legislation intended to boost public health care funding. For the strapped state struggling to cover an unprecedented budget deficit, the money comes at a crucial time. However, to obtain the funds, which by one estimate could be as high as $11.23 billion, the state will have to reverse restrictions on eligibility that it imposed last year... The California Medical Association urged state lawmakers to roll back eligibility restrictions, and estimated the size of the funding package at $11.2 billion.
Doctors sue to boost reimbursements for uninsured and Medi-Cal patients
Ventura County Star - 02-09-2009 - The rock is Medi-Cal payments that may cover as little as 50 percent of costs. The hard place is a federal law requiring emergency rooms treat all patients. In the middle, tired of getting squeezed, are emergency room doctors.
San Francisco Will Bridge Gap in Medi-Cal, CalWorks Funding
KCBS - 01-29-2009 - The rock is Medi-Cal payments that may cover as little as 50 percent of costs. The hard place is a federal law requiring emergency rooms treat all patients. In the middle, tired of getting squeezed, are emergency room doctors.
Inland health care providers urged to sign up eligible kids to state program facing cap
Riverside Press Enterprise - 11-28-2008 - Inland health care providers have been urged to quickly sign up eligible children in the state's health care program for low-income children before it caps enrollment for the first time in its 10-year history. An estimated 120,000 Inland children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal and too little to afford insurance are among 900,000 in California's Healthy Families program. Another 126,000 uninsured children live in the Inland area, but it's unclear how many could be added to the program.
Medi-Cal's doctor list deceiving; Inland patients have fewer to choose from
Riverside Press Enterprise - 11-19-2008 - More California doctors this year enrolled in the state program that covers health care for the poor, but some providers who have signed up aren't seeing those patients because they say the state doesn't pay enough to do so... Dr. Dev GnanaDev, president of the California Medical Association, said he thinks the total number of doctors enrolled in the Medi-Cal program is deceiving.
Medi-Cal cut to cost some seniors more
Ventura County Star - 11-05-2008 - Nearly 1,800 seniors and disabled people in Ventura County are being asked to
pay $96.40 monthly Medicare premiums to help dig the state out of debt. Beginning this month, the state's Medi-Cal program will stop paying Medicare Part B premiums for some people with limited assets and income who qualify not only for federal Medicare benefits but, after meeting a monthly deductible called a share of cost, for Medi-Cal as well.
New Budget Has Cuts To Medi-Cal
KFBK - 10-30-2008 - To save the state $63 million this fiscal year, Medi-Cal will no longer pay the Part B premium and will instead deduct the money from the social security checks of 57,000 Californians.
County's Medi-Cal payment hearing today
Santa Maria Times - 10-28-2008 - A hearing to decide how much Santa Barbara County has to pay back to the state in improper Medi-Cal payments is scheduled today at 10 a.m. in Los Angeles. An audit of the county's Medi-Cal billing from the 2002-03 fiscal year found that nearly $3 million had been overpaid by the state, said Bob Geis, county auditor-controller.
Opinion: On health
Santa Rosa Press Democrat - 10-21-2008 - Medicare and Medi-Cal: Declining reimbursement rates are making it increasingly difficult for people on Medicare or Medi-Cal to obtain health care. Yet the cost of these programs is outpacing the revenue that supports them, all but ensuring a crisis in the coming years. Neither candidate has addressed this crucial issue, which is one of the disappointing aspects of this year’s campaign.
Opinion: The king is dead
Sacramento News & Review - 10-16-2008 - The 2008–09 budget and related legislation reject many of the governor’s proposed deep cuts in Medi-Cal and other health programs,” reports the California Budget Project, a nonprofit agency that provides fiscal and policy analysis on the state’s finances. Nevertheless, the budget extended the 10 percent cut on Medi-Cal payments to providers and capped or reduced payments to children receiving dental and eye care from the Healthy Families Program, among many other cuts.
As L.A. County faces fiscal tightening, more people are seeking aid
Los Angeles Times - 10-08-2008 - The state is sending less money than expected, while the numbers of people on Medi-Cal and general relief are up. More cases of child abuse are anticipated as well.
Deja Vu
Santa Rosa Press Democrat - 10-08-2008 - State faces more budget trouble, and has no easy solutions… With the economy stumbling, turmoil in the real estate market and unemployment rising, it's obvious that tax revenue forecasts based on a recovering economy are too rosy. In September alone, revenue fell $1 billion below projections. Meanwhile, more people will be eligible for unemployment, Medi-Cal and other entitlement programs, driving up the cost side of the state's ledger. The unemployment fund alone is looking at a $1.6 billion deficit next year.
Editorial: Medi-Cal oddity: Crime does pay
Sacramento Bee - 10-04-2008 - Want to keep your Medi-Cal benefits? Commit a crime. That is the message – no doubt unintended – that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent when he signed one bill dealing with Medi-Cal benefits and vetoed another. The bill he signed, Senate Bill 1147 by Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, requires the Department of Health Services to reinstate Medi-Cal benefits automatically for youthful offenders when they are released from juvenile hall or a state correctional facility.
Need rising for aid as funds dry up
Contra Costa Times - 10-01-2008 - The state budget makes significant cuts in social services funding despite an unprecedented demand, as people lose their homes, health insurance and jobs and fall back on Contra Costa's safety net... "We were shocked," said Joe Valentine, Contra Costa's director of Employment and Human Services, who also lost $2.75 million in Medi-Cal staffing money.
10% Medi-Cal cut remains in budget
San Francisco Chronicle - 09-20-2008 - The new budget retains the current 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal payments for most providers - including doctors, nurses, dentists, home health providers - through Feb. 28, 2009. Smaller rate cuts would begin March 1, reducing the state's savings by $110 million. A federal judge last month ordered that full payments be restored - the state is appealing the ruling. Medi-Cal funds health care for 6.6 million low-income people.
Health clinics feel pain of lawmakers' budget hostilities
Merced Sun Star - 09-11-2008 - There's a lot of hurt out there. That's the opinion of the leaders of Merced's safety net health clinics about the state's budget crisis. In its record-breaking 74 days without a budget, the state has cut off payments to the clinics that take care of the working poor. Most clinics haven't been paid since the last week of July for Medi-Cal charges. In Livingston, that's Livingston Medical Group. About half the clinic's patients are on Medi-Cal, California's form of Medicaid. Federal law has kept Medi-Cal payments going to doctors and pharmacists during the budget impasse, but that doesn't apply to hospitals, clinics and other institutions.
Medi-Cal reimbursement is right decision
Paradise Post - 08-26-2008 - The nation's judges have come in for more than their share of criticism in recent years. Conservatives continually rail against activist judges - often the criticism is warranted - while liberals look to the courts as their last resort against the actions of a right-wing administration.
Judge blocks state's cut in Medi-Cal fees
San Francisco Chronicle - 08-20-2008 - A federal judge has blocked California's 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal fees for doctors, dentists and pharmacies, saying the money-saving measures appear to violate federal law and would worsen medical care for millions of poor people. In her ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder of Los Angeles said she was aware of California's gaping deficit, now $17.2 billion (including $2 billion in reserves) with the budget 50 days overdue and legislators still deadlocked. But she said the state has accepted federal funds for Medi-Cal and is bound to use them to provide quality health care to low-income residents... Dr. Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Association, said this was the third ruling in five years to conclude that "the state of California has put at risk the access to health care for millions of Californians by underfunding the Medi-Cal program." He was referring to a previous state attempt to reduce fees to health providers, overturned by the courts.
Budget impasse halts Medi-Cal payments
Ventura County Star - 08-17-2008 - As healthcare providers take out mortgages and borrow from friends to help group homes for the developmentally disabled, nursing homes and senior day-care centers withstand California's mounting Medi-Cal crisis, April Wiseman worries about her 77-year-old mother.
Medi-Cal cuts could end after-school care program
San Diego Union-Tribune - 08-16-2008 - Medi-Cal, California's version of the federal Medicaid program, provides health care to 6.6 million low-income and disabled state residents. Medi-Cal provides Together We Grow with the majority of its income but is slated to cut $300,000 in funds this year from its budget.
Bid to stop Calif. health care cut stalls in court
San Jose Mercury News - 07-31-2008 - A state court Wednesday turned away a bid by hospitals, pharmacists and doctors to block 10 percent cuts in the reimbursements they receive for providing health care to millions of poor, disabled and elderly Californians... The doctors and hospitals are considering an appeal. The group includes the California Medical Association, the California Hospital Association, the California Dental Association, the California Association for Adult Day Services, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the California Pharmacists Association.
Bid to Halt Medi-Cal Cuts Rejected
Wall Street Journal - 07-31-2008 - A state court rejected a request by a coalition of California hospitals, doctors and other health-care providers to block a 10% cutback in payments to them for treating the poor who are covered by Medi-Cal, a joint federal and state program. The reductions took effect July 1. * Subscription Required
Budget mess leaves rural hospitals dry
San Diego Union-Tribune - 07-31-2008 - Small rural hospitals are scrambling to get unprecedented emergency loans as California's monthlong budget crisis deepens. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to lay off up to 22,000 temporary and part-time workers today and trigger a legal clash with state Controller John Chiang by trying to slash the pay of 200,000 state workers.
Opinion: Life on the edge
Los Angeles Times - 07-30-2008 - Clearly, one assumption the governor made was that, even though these cuts would add hundreds of thousands to the ranks of the uninsured and create even more financial hardship for hospitals and health centers teetering on the brink of closure, the healthcare system can handle the added stress.
California freezes Medi-Cal payments to thousands of healthcare facilities
Los Angeles Times - 07-24-2008 - Thousands of medical providers who care for low-income Californians are scrambling to find funds after lawmakers failed to pass a budget, forcing the state to halt payments to them. State officials put the healthcare facilities on notice that payments from the Medi-Cal insurance program for the poor will be frozen until a budget is approved. Although most of the facilities have no immediate plans to turn away patients, the providers warn that a budget stalemate will affect care. In the meantime, they are turning to banks, foundations, and their own reserves for emergency cash to pay the bills.
Asian communities speak out against proposed Medi-Cal cuts
Oakland Tribune - 07-23-2008 - Members of the Asian community are deeply concerned about the governor's proposed state budget, which includes possible cuts to Medi-Cal that could eliminate adult dental services and coverage for legal immigrants who have been in the state less than five years. "That would be us," said Buu Tai Tran, who brought his family to the United States from Vietnam four years ago. Tran spoke through his friend, Thu Dao, on Wednesday at a packed town hall meeting at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center downtown. The event was sponsored by Asian Health Services.
How can Medi-Cal swallow a 10% cut?
Fresno Bee - 07-21-2008 - California's massive health-care program for the poor needs surgery -- and even families with private insurance will soon feel the pain, experts say. Medi-Cal, the state-federal insurance program on which more than 500,000 low-income central San Joaquin Valley residents depend, already has cut provider reimbursements by 10% in response to the state's $15.2 billion deficit. The cut may be rescinded. But because Medi-Cal draws more than $14 billion a year in general-fund dollars -- more than any program except education -- it cannot avoid reductions, officials say. And caseloads and costs continue to rise.
10 percent Medi-Cal fee cut reinstated for pharmacies
East Bay Business Journal - 07-21-2008 - The state's 10 percent Medi-Cal provider fee cut on pharmacies is back in place. Late Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the injunction it imposed July 11 on the controversial fee cut and asked state officials and pharmacists to return to court Monday to argue the matter once again... A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in May by the California Medical Association, California Hospital Association, California Pharmacists Association and other provider groups will get a court hearing July 25. This case affects all providers
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Where cuts could hurt
Sacramento Bee - 01-13-2008 - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's sweeping state spending proposal leaves few Californians untouched...