The 10 percent rate reduction starts this summer, but it's already being felt...family doctors who still see Medi-Cal patients spend much time on the phone begging for specialists to see the patients as well...in what form will Medi-Cal continue to exist? BD
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.
"I am the last guy I know of still taking [Medi-Cal] on a regular basis," he said. "I am seeing patients from the Riverside and Orange County lines all the way down to the border."In response, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to announce in Sacramento on Tuesday that a coalition of local governments and healthcare providers plans to file suit to force a rollback of the Chris Perrone, an analyst who tracks Medi-Cal issues for the California Healthcare Foundation, said Medi-Cal risks are becoming so unattractive to doctors that the program could soon "fall off the edge."10% cut in fees paid to doctors that was approved by legislators in February.
It took downtown Los Angeles resident Liliana Ramirez more than six months to get an appointment with a physician willing to fit medical braces on her 7-year-old son, Angelo, a Medi-Cal recipient with spina bifida.
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