COUNTY HEALTH IN STORE FOR PAIN $200 MILLION CUT WOULD HIT HARD.Byline: LEE PETERSON Staff Writer Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County's public hospital system would be pushed into financial disaster under a new proposal that would cut federal funding for the system by $200 million a year, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. county officials. The cuts are part of $3.8 billion nationwide that would come with a plan to cap Medicaid reimbursements for hospitals. ``These cuts would have devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. local impact on our fragile public health system and jeopardize critical health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract for all 10 million county residents, such as trauma and burn care,'' Dr. Bruce Chernof, health department director, said in a letter to the Board of Supervisors last week. Hospitals that serve a high proportion of uninsured patients -- like the county's five public hospitals -- qualify for a higher rate of reimbursement for patients who are covered by Medicaid, or Medi-Cal in California. The Medicaid money serves as a means to cover the costs of those who have no insurance. ``The proposed change threatens access to care and compromises the health of those who can least afford it,'' Chernof said. The specter of losing $200 million in federal Medicaid or Medi-Cal funding is a familiar one in Los Angeles County. Late last year, county officials restructured Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center into a new hospital under the direction of County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located within the city of Torrance, California, USA. The hospital was founded in 1946, and is funded by Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA serves as the Level I Trauma Center for the South Bay area. to stave off stave n. 1. A narrow strip of wood forming part of the sides of a barrel, tub, or similar structure. 2. A rung of a ladder or chair. 3. A staff or cudgel. 4. Music See staff1. a loss of $200 million in federal funding. Hospital associations nationwide hope to enlist Congress in their fight against the White House's proposed changes. Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , said hospital closures can be anticipated if the proposed Medicaid rule changes go through. ``We are going to see a number of hospitals that treat low-income people and welfare beneficiaries go down,'' Lott said. ``It's a horrible thing. For all the inner-city hospitals in this country that treat high volumes of poor and indigent indigent 1) n. a person so poor and needy that he/she cannot provide the necessities of life (food, clothing, decent shelter) for himself/herself. 2) n. one without sufficient income to afford a lawyer for defense in a criminal case. people, this is going to hit them hard.'' While county hospitals would be most affected because they treat the highest percentage of uninsured patients, some private hospitals also receive the type of funding that would be reduced by the new rules. ``For Los Angeles, this would have really far-reaching implications. This would just add insult to injury and of course we are trying to retain these hospitals in underserved communities,'' said Lark Galloway-Gilliam, executive director of Community Health Councils. lee.peterson(at)dailybreeze.com |
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