Leaders from Orange County’s community clinics held a press conference this morning urging lawmakers to restore funding to the state’s health care system and to quickly pass a budget that doesn’t cut funding to the county’s poorest residents.
The state hasn’t paid nearly $5 million for services to a coalition of 18 community clinics in Orange County because of the budget impasse, and clinic officials said they may have to close their doors if the budget isn’t resolved soon.
“We may have to drastically reduce the number of patients we can see here,” said Ed Gerber, director of the Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange.
Lestonac offers free healthcare to some 2,000-2,500 patients per year who are uninsured and don’t qualify for MediCal. The clinic receives about 15 percent of its funds from the state, and Gerber says he has dipped $200,000 into its reserves to keep doors open. He also has laid off two employees: a registered nurse and a pharmacist.
Orange County’s other state-licensed clinics are reimbursed by the state for services to about 55 percent of their patients, said Isabel Becerra, CEO of the Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics. Many don’t have reserve funds and have only been able to keep their doors open because CalOptima, the county’s billion dollar health care safety net, has promised to pay providers from its reserve through October, Becerra said.
The group warned that the consequences of cutting funding to these programs could be dire.
The success of health care services for the county’s poor, elderly and disabled are dependent on each other to be successful, Becerra says. If one part fails, patients could overwhelm the remaining clinics, causing them to crumble, as well.
Clinics such as Lestonnac help people get chronic conditions, such as diabetes, under control. If they closed down, those patients would clog emergency rooms, costing the state even more, they said.
Does anyone know to what extent extended family members pay to cover the costs of patients at these facilities?
Andy,
OC register had a story a while back about cash being paid at the time of service. Some of these clinics have fee schedules where the poor pay a lesser fee.
But, either someone at Cal Optima has the money and isn’t passing it along.
Or, someone at State is keeping the federal appropriations on healthcare for themselves and they are not passing it along to the local.
Hi Andy,
It varies based on the family member’s willingness and ability to cover the costs for services. It certainly is not a requirement.
The LA Times recently published a thoughtful op-ed piece about how if clinics, such as the ones above, are unable to secure adequate funding, many of the patients who would be seen at these clinics will be forced to choose between medical care and wearing pants. Can you imagine that? I hate to think we live in a society where people need to walk around with the bare bottoms showing in order to obtain decent health care. For shame!