Questions on Medi-Cal Funding Remain After Budget Deal

What will be in store next year?  Expenses and cost increases don't seem to be on a downswing anywhere...BD

Before legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) agreed on a plan more than a month past their deadline, the state's Medi-Cal emergency fund ran dry and many health care providers were hard-strapped to provide -- let alone pay for -- services. Then, when the budget finally was hammered out and signed, the largest single hit in the effort to trim more than $700 million from the proposal came at Medi-Cal's expense. The new budget transfers $332 million from the Medi-Cal reserve fund to the state general fund reserve. State officials say the money can be shifted back if Medi-Cal runs low, but some critics say the state will be hard-pressed to make ends meet this year, with or without padded reserves. That bodes ill for Medi-Cal providers and beneficiaries.

The issue plays out on two levels: the policy, decision-making level in Sacramento and the grassroots "how-do-we-take-care-of-our-patients" level at local clinics and hospitals up and down the state. But cost increases and changes in accounting methods for Medi-Cal made the money disappear a lot quicker this year.

Questions on Medi-Cal Funding Remain After Budget Deal - California Healthline