California Health Officials Seek Suspension Of Injunction Against Medi-Cal Reimbursement Rate Reduction

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California health officials give asked U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder to suspend an injunction that she issued against a 10% reduction in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for health tutelage providers, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program (Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 8/27).

In February, California lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) approved the reduction as part of an sweat to address the estimated $15.2 billion state budget deficit. The reduction took gist on July 1. Snyder ordered California to reverse the decrease and issued the injunction on Aug. 18. According to Snyder, California lawmakers did non consider the effect that the step-down would have on quality and access to attention for beneficiaries, as mandatory by federal law (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/22).

In documents filed with Snyder on Monday, California attorneys wrote that a reversal of the step-down would toll at least $500 gazillion annually and would "alone worsen California's already desperate financial spot." They likewise wrote that California would require at least three weeks to reprogram computers to reverse the reduction. According to Stan Rosenstein, chief decision maker for Medi-Cal, California lawmakers might eliminate optional services, such as prescription drug and adult dental attention coverage, in the event that the injunction remains in impression during an appeal by state attorneys.

On Tuesday, attorney Lynn Carman, who represents pharmacists and Medi-Cal beneficiaries, asked Snyder to hold Sandra Shewry, director of the California Department of Health Care Services, in contempt and appoint a court representative to supervise compliance with the injunction. Snyder has scheduled a hearing for Thursday on that request (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/27).


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