Here's another letter to the editor forwarded to me on the budget cuts to Medi-Cal.

This one is signed by the CEOs of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Kern Medical Center, San Joaquin Community Hospital and Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield.

What do you think? Does this spur you to action?

This letter is particularly interesting because it gives their opinions on what will happen to everyone — Medi-Cal patient or not — because of these cuts.

(Read the post, "Mercy president: Budget cuts put lives at risk," for another letter and the posts "Calif. sued over Medi-Cal rate cuts" and "Is health reform dead?" for some background.)

Deep Cuts to Medi-Cal Budget Puts all Californians at Risk
 
Hospitals throughout California provide vital health care services and emergency care to millions of people around-the-clock. At Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Kern Medical Center, Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield and San Joaquin Community Hospital, we’ve delivered your babies, been there for the seriously ill and provided emergency care to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. We serve as your lifeline to many of the critical health care services that are now under serious threat from budget cuts to the state’s Medi-Cal Program. Our community hospitals and the lives of all Californians are in jeopardy.
 
Medi-Cal serves the state’s most vulnerable patients – the 6.7 million people who are uninsured, underinsured, disabled or elderly. This government program has been underfunded by the state for many years and ranks last in the nation in payments to hospitals. Rates paid to doctors and hospitals in California are almost 25 percent less than the average for Medicaid programs in other states.
 
On average, California’s community hospitals lose 22 cents for every dollar of cost they incur in providing care to Medi-Cal patients. In short, Medi-Cal covers only 78 percent of the costs that hospitals incur while caring for Medi-Cal patients. The real tragedy is the governor’s willingness to leave federal funding on the table. The Medi-Cal program receives 50 percent matching reimbursement from the federal government which means the $1.6 billion in cuts will really equate to about $800 million. In the long run, the state isn’t saving nearly as much as they’d like for you to believe — for every dollar the state cuts to the Medi-Cal program, we’re only saving 50 cents.
 
In an effort to solve the unprecedented $17.2 billion state budget deficit, the governor signed into law a 10 percent cut to the Medi-Cal program in February 2007 totaling $1.2 billion. Then, in the May budget revision, the governor delivered a second hit to hospitals with another proposed budget cut of $448 million. This represents a total loss to all health care providers in California of more than $1.6 billion.
 
For Bakersfield, this represents a loss of $11.5 million to local hospitals. This could result in drastic measures, including not being able to provide orthopedic physicians on-call, which means when a person breaks their arm or hip, they may have to wait until the next business day to have access to an orthopedic surgeon.
 
With substantially deep cuts like these to our health care system, there will undoubtedly be reductions in critical emergency and trauma care services throughout the state. When health care services are lost, they are lost to all citizens, not just those covered by the Medi-Cal program.
 
In addition, many doctors and health care providers will end their contracts and no longer see Medi-Cal patients because they can no longer accept such poor reimbursement rates. With inadequate access to doctors and health care providers, Medi-Cal patients will likely go to the nearest emergency room to get care, causing even longer wait times and stress on our already overcrowded and fragile health care system.
 
During the past decade, more than 70 California hospitals and emergency rooms have closed. Nearly half of our state hospitals are operating in the red. Where will patients go when hospitals are forced to close, physicians are unable to accept Medi-Cal patients and hospital emergency rooms are backlogged? It doesn’t matter how good your insurance coverage is when you have nowhere to get treatment.
 
Access to vital health care is at stake for all Californians. We must make sure that lawmakers prioritize budget cuts. Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Kern Medical Center, Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield and San Joaquin Community Hospital urge lawmakers to stop the cuts to hospitals and doctors and take a more balanced approach to solving our state’s fiscal emergency. The lives of all Californians are at risk.
 
Call your representative and share with them that health care should continue to be a priority for all Californians: Assemblywoman Jean Fuller: 661-395-2995, Senator Dean Florez: 661-395-2620, Assemblywoman Nicole Parra: 916-334-3745, and Senator Roy Ashburn: 661-323-0443.

Jon Van Boening, president & CEO of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital
Paul J. Hensler, president & CEO of Kern Medical Center
Russell Judd, president & CEO of Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield
Robert J. Beehler, president & CEO of San Joaquin Community Hospital