PROJECT INFORM IN OTHER MEDIA ... 2008
Proposed $1.1 billion Medi-Cal cut
would hit poor, elderly hardest
(mention of Project Inform in bold below)
For 10 years, Sylvia Martir has lived with HIV. A few years ago
she learned she had cancer. Then diabetes. Now she's wondering
how she'll pay for critical medical care if the governor's proposed
budget cuts are implemented.
Every week Martir, an Oakland resident who lives on $736 a month
in government assistance, sees a therapist. She takes anti-depression
medications and occasionally sees a dentist. These services are
paid by the state, but under the governor's budget plan, they would
be eliminated to Medi-Cal recipients like Martir.
"If I have to pay medical bills, I won't be able to buy food or
pay my rent," said Martir, 50.
Aiming to slash $1.1 billion from Medi-Cal, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
presented a budget plan Thursday that would reduce reimbursement
to providers—such as doctors and community clinics—by 10 percent,
and cut podiatry, hearing and vision services to adults, among
other proposed cuts. Additionally, as part of a proposed $11 million
cut in state funding of AIDS programs, certain medications would
no longer be covered.
Outraged, many health care experts said that essential services
are on the cutting block, critically affecting millions of people,
especially poor, older adults and the disabled. The state has 6.6
million people receiving Medi-Cal, nearly 774,000 in the Bay Area.
"These cuts affect people's access to care and quality of care," said
Anne Donnelly of Project Inform, a nonprofit that advocates for
people with HIV.
In San Francisco, 10 community clinics—where Medi-Cal is the
backbone of financial support - provide care to 70,000 patients
a year.
"These cuts would be devastating to our clinics," said Dick Hodgson,
vice president of policy and planning with the San Francisco Community
Clinic Consortium. "Many of our patients are (far) below the poverty
level."
Overall, the budget cuts could cost San Francisco $5 million during
the next fiscal year, according to a preliminary estimate by Greg
Sass, chief financial officer of the Department of Public Health.
If the city decides to cover the tab for HIV/AIDS medications,
for example, the cost would be "potentially significant," he said. "The
average cost of anti-psychotic medications is $3,000 a year per
person. The proposed cuts would really affect our clinics and San
Francisco General Hospital."
One of those clinics—North East Medical Services—treats 35,000
people a year, said Dr. Kenneth Tai, who specializes in internal
medicine and pediatrics at the Stockton Street facility. "Patients
will probably have to pay out of pocket for some services, they
won't be able to afford it, and as a result they won't be able
to get the medical care they need," he said.
One of the biggest items in the proposed Medi-Cal reduction is
the suggested elimination of dental care for adults—that would
include cleaning, exams, root canals, restorative care, crowns
and fillings. The state would save $115 million, but, according
to Samuel H. Gruenbaum, chief executive of Western Dental Services,
California's largest Denti-Cal provider, the cutback "will result
in fewer children as well as adults getting dental care, costs
will be incurred in emergency rooms where people will go."
Many adult day home programs that serve some of California's most
frail and poorest senior citizens would also be affected.
"The majority of our clients are in their 70s, 80s, 90s," said
Cynthia Davis, executive director of North and South of Market
Adult Day Health—her four centers in San Francisco serve 360
people a week. "People with chronic physical and mental disabilities
can't put their medical needs on hold."
A client of Mission Creek Day Health, Tressie Lavender turns 66
next week. For a birthday present, she's hoping to have her teeth
fixed. One of her bottom teeth recently fell out—she repaired
it with Krazy Glue.
"What is wrong with the governor?" said the Western Addition resident. "How
can he cut people away from dentists?"
