southerninyohospOn Friday, Southern Inyo Hospital Administrator Lee Barron reportedly headed to Sacramento to join other hospital officials to try to change Assembly Bill 97 which cuts Medi-Cal reimbursements. For Southern Inyo Hospital’s Skilled Nursing Facility, the bill would make a 46% cut, and Lone Pine officials say the cuts could lead to closure of the nursing facility, the hospital itself and its clinic. Officials urge citizens to immediately send letters to Sacramento.

Not only would AB97 cut Medi-Cal reimbursements by nearly half in the future but also demand retroactive pay back. For Southern Inyo Hospital, that’s $1.5 million. Plus, the annual revenue loss will amount to around $900,000 or 11.5% of the hospital operating budget.

Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce President Marian Seiter (Sight-er) said that if Southern Inyo Hospital has to cut jobs and services, “every single citizen in Southern Inyo plus all our visitors will be negatively affected.”  While hospital officials push legislators to see the devastation from severe Medi-Cal reimbursement cuts, others continue to fight through a lawsuit filed by the California Medical Association and many others. President of the CMA, Dr. Paul Phinney, was quoted as saying that the Medi-Cal cuts to providers will “have a huge impact on patient access to care.”

The lawsuit also says that the proposed Medi-Cal cuts could close hospitals. According to the CMA, there is currently a court injunction on the Medi-Cal cuts pending a full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.  (Contact emails, addresses and fax numbers follow for sending letters and comments.)

Emails:

Senator Jean Fuller email – <mailto:[email protected]>
[email protected]

Congresswoman Connie Conway – <mailto:[email protected]>
[email protected]
Letters can go to:

Diana Dooley
Secretary, DHCS (Department of Health Care Services)
PO Box 997413
Sacramento, CA 95889-7413

Toby Douglas
Director, DHCS
PO Box 997413 , MS:0000
Sacramento, CA 95889-7413

Senator Jean Fuller
18th Senate District
State Capitol, Room 3063
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: 916-322-3304
Fax: 661-323-0446

Assemblywoman Connie Conway
34th Assembly District
State Capitol Office Rm 2174
Sacramento, CA 94249-0034
Fax: 559-636-4484

Discover more from Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading