Cuts to Medi-Cal threaten program’s future
By Sandy Kleffman
Contra Costa Times
January 3, 2006
Beginning this week, the state will cut by 5 percent its reimbursement rate for doctors who treat California’s poorest residents.
Some people fear this will cause even more doctors to abandon the Medi-Cal program, making it tougher for 6.8 million poor and disabled residents to find someone willing to treat them.
“Already, half of the providers in California do not take Medi-Cal,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer advocacy group.
“It’s a real concern in terms of access to care. For certain people, Medi-Cal coverage is in danger of becoming a false promise.”
The cut comes as an improving economy has caused the state’s budget coffers to brim again after several years of multibillion-dollar shortfalls.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/13538192.htm
Comment: Medi-Cal already has the lowest physician reimbursement rates of all fifty state Medicaid programs. Physicians accepting Medi-Cal patients must make up the losses by shifting some of the net income from their other patients to cover overhead expenses. An additional 5 percent reduction will come out the physicians’ own pockets.
In order to be able to serve their patients, physicians must also be good businesspersons. In what other business does the state ask private contractors not only to relinquish any profit, but also to personally contribute to the funding of the services and/or goods provided? Why would any contractor agree to contribute an even greater amount of his/her own funds when the state budget crisis has been eliminated?
What is unique about the business of medicine is that these are real physicians, taking care of real patients, with real health care needs. For dedicated physicians, patients really do come before profits, but, sadly, insolvency trumps all.
Low-income populations are rapidly expanding. Physician charity can no longer serve as an effective policy to meet their health care needs. As long as Medicaid remains a welfare program, it will always be underfunded. We will not resolve this problem until we agree to switch to a universal program of social insurance.
When we have a single insurance program that covers everyone, then just try to tell physicians that they must personally fund the care that they are giving. Although they may be not be astute businesspersons, they’re not stupid!