Children's Specialty Care Coalition Seeks to Protect California's Sickest Children from Budget Cuts that Limit Access to Care.Nonprofit Children's Specialty Care Coalition Responds to Proposed Budget Plan SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- "We have grave concerns over today's announcement of proposed budget cuts to Medi-Cal and CCS (1) (Common Channel Signaling) A communications system in which one channel is used for signaling and different channels are used for voice/data transmission. Signaling System 7 (SS7) is a CCS system, also known as CCS7. See SS7. physician rates because it will further jeopardize access to health care services for California's sickest children," says Dr. Thomas Klitzner, President, Children's Specialty Care Coalition, a safety network of pediatric pediatric /pe·di·at·ric/ (pe?de-at´rik) pertaining to the health of children. pe·di·at·ric adj. Of or relating to pediatrics. specialists. California suffers a serious shortage of pediatric specialists; physicians are going to states with better practice environments. As a result, seriously ill A patient is seriously ill when his or her illness is of such severity that there is cause for immediate concern but there is no imminent danger to life. See also very seriously ill. children, many with life-threatening conditions, currently wait months to see a specialist. Facts: * California has a shortage of pediatric endocrinologists; children with diabetes face 4 month waits for appointments. * Medi-Cal and California Children's Services reimbursements for medical specialists have been adjusted only once in more than 26 years; rates are among the lowest in the nation. * California spends about 30% less than the nat'l average for Medi-Cal beneficiaries; the least per beneficiary among the ten most populous states. All of this adds up to rapidly dwindling dwin·dle v. dwin·dled, dwin·dling, dwin·dles v.intr. To become gradually less until little remains. v.tr. To cause to dwindle. See Synonyms at decrease. access to health care for catastrophically ill children. Further cuts will serve to speed up the negative trend, severely restrict already restricted access, and increase the waiting time for delivery of needed care. "Access to waiting lists is not access to health care. We are hopeful we can continue to work with the Governor and the Legislature to find solutions that do not inflict harm on California's most gravely ill, vulnerable children - children with cancer, congenital heart disease congenital heart disease, any defect in the heart present at birth. There is evidence that some congenital heart defects are inherited, but the cause of most cases is unknown. , cleft palates and cystic fibrosis cystic fibrosis (sĭs`tĭk fībrō`sĭs), inherited disorder of the exocrine glands (see gland), affecting children and young people; median survival is 25 years in females and 30 years in males. ," says Klitzner. Media Resources: * Jaclyn, 15 year old beneficiary of CCS network (Sacramento) * Terri Schmidt, Jaclyn's mother and advocate for other CCS families (Sacramento) * Linda Swan, Family Voices, nonprofit serving 25,000 California kids with special healthcare needs (San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden ) * Thomas Klitzner, MD, PhD, President, Children's Specialty Care Coalition (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. ) * Erin Aaberg Givans, Exec. Dir., Children's Specialty Care Coalition (Sacramento) Children's Specialty Care Coalition is a nonprofit association representing more than 1,000 pediatric specialists in California. www.childrens-coalition.org |
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