Medi-Cal Cut Threatens Poor, Disabled

[Thom Little]

Payment for a routine doctor's visit has dropped from $24 to $22.80, less than half the amount a physician can receive from private insurers.

The temporary reduction will expire at the end of the year unless it's extended by the state Legislature. Hospitals, nursing homes, hospice services, pharmacies and labs are not affected. Nor are managed-care plans that serve roughly half the state's estimated 6.7 million Medi-Cal recipients.

Nonetheless, medical groups and advocates for the poor fear that the state cut will fracture an already brittle Medi-Cal system and reduce access to healthcare for some of California's most vulnerable patients.

They warn that doctors — particularly specialists — may reject new Medi-Cal patients or drop out of the program entirely.

"There is no question that further reducing already low rates will reduce access," said Linda Rosenstock, dean of UCLA's School of Public Health. "It's not a question of doctors getting out of Medi-Cal; it's a question of how many."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-medical2jan02,0,6811110.story