CPCA Celebrates Three Victories for California's Uninsured.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 1, 1998-- Today marked a tremendous success for the CPCA when three of its sponsored bills were signed into law.

Together, the three bills strengthen the safety net for the uninsured, including working poor, immigrant and other vulnerable populations in the state. The CPCA's advocacy efforts this year, on behalf of community clinics and health centers in California, will mean more funding for clinics and an improved administrative system for clinics contracting with managed care plans.

The California Primary Care Association is a private, nonprofit, statewide association representing over 275 of California's community clinics and health centers at the state and national level. Their mission is to promote and strengthen the health care safety net on which California's uninsured, vulnerable, low-income, working poor and immigrant communities depend.

In that role, CPCA was out in full force advocating and working for the passage of SB 687 (Hughes-D, Los Angeles), AB 194 (Thomson-D, Davis) and SB 1194 (Rosenthal-D, Van Nuys), all measures that secure more funding and provide more strength to the state's health care safety net.

The CPCA is especially proud of its member clinics' efforts to pass SB 687. CPCA is excited about the positive impact this legislation will have on the communities its member clinics serve. SB 687, which allocates $3.6 million, was signed by Governor Wilson today, restoring funding to the Expanded Access to Primary Care program (EAPC).

These funds where previously blue penciled by the Governor from the 1998-99 state budget. The CPCA and its member clinics thank the legislature, the Governor and the Department of Health Services for their support of the measure.

The EAPC program predominantly serves working poor adults who have no means to obtain health care coverage themselves. Clinics report that 60%-80% of their EAPC dollars are used to provide services to adults. Currently, community clinics and health centers are experiencing a decline in the number of patients covered by Medi-Cal and an increase in the number of fee-for-service patients they serve.

"Fee-for-service patients are not able to adequately cover the cost of the health care services they receive. The passage of this bill is good news for clinics because EAPC funding will help relieve the burden on clinics and fill the gap between what patients can afford and what Medi-Cal doesn't cover," explained Carmela Castellano, CEO of the CPCA.

Earlier this week, two more bills, sponsored by the CPCA, were signed by Governor Wilson. The first, AB 194, carried through the legislature by Assemblywoman Thomson, enhances the selection criteria for participants in the EAPC grant program. The CPCA sponsored this legislation to reform the current process of determining which clinics will be awarded funds for the program.

"This measure makes good sense. By developing a clinic consensus on the methodology used by the Department of Health Services to establish annual clinic EAPC allocations, the clinics themselves will help to target those clinics in the greatest need of EAPC dollars. The administration understood the importance of this bill to the clinics; we applaud the Governor and the department for that," said Castellano.

SB 1194, another policy reform measure sponsored by CPCA, places health centers and clinics on a level playing field in the managed care marketplace. The bill makes federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics (RHCs) more competitive by eliminating administrative barriers for managed care plans in contracting with health centers.

"Clinics will now receive reimbursement of their reasonable costs from the Department of Health Services instead of from the managed care plans. It is a welcomed change among the many in the changing health care climate we currently have in California. This will ensure that during all these changes, patients will continue to receive the high level of quality care they are accustomed to, from medical professionals they are familiar with," said Castellano.

Today and tomorrow, the CPCA meets with their membership and over 300 participants, professionals and community leaders in San Francisco at their annual conference: Expanding Healthy Horizons. During the conference they will address the many issues impacting clinics and health centers and the 2.1 million people they serve each year, including immigration issues, access to primary care, Medi-Cal Managed Care, and the ups and downs of the Healthy Families program.

The CPCA annual conference is the forum where CPCA sets policy goals and legislative agenda items for next year's legislative session. (For more information on the CPCA conference, please call 916/444-1181.)