California Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Increase Medi-Cal Reimbursement Payments

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Max Pringle / CPRN

A pair of bills have been introduced into the California state Assembly that would increase physician reimbursement payments for Medi-Cal, which is the state’s health care service for low-income people.

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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

One of the proposed Assembly bills would put back the 10 percent cut made to Medi-Cal physician payments in the 2011 budget.

The other measure would extend the deadline for the Affordable Care Act provision that boosted Medi-Cal physician reimbursements. Assembly member Doctor Richard Pan says letting those payments expire would a big blow to Medi-Cal.

“Unfortunately it’s going to be difficult to get primary care physicians to take on new Medi-Cal patients now because what they’re seeing is that they rates will drop at the end of this year,” says Pan.

The other half of Pan’s bill would set up an annual independent assessment of how Medi-Cal reimbursement rates affect the quality of care for low income Californians.

The state office of Health Care Services declined to comment on the pending legislation, but the Brown Administration has opposed increases to the Medi-Cal reimbursement rate in the past.