'Nickel a Drink’ Legislation Would Fund Trauma and Emergency System
[Posted 12/12/02]

	For More Information New Budget Cuts Threaten Medi-Cal Provider Rates

At a hospital hard hit by the cost of emergency care, State Senator Gloria Romero, Majority Caucus Chair (D-Los Angeles), today announced her legislative proposal to save California’s beleaguered trauma centers and emergency rooms.

Known as the "Five-For-Life" bill, SB 5 will levy a fee of 5 cents per drink on alcoholic beverages with the money going to support care at emergency rooms and trauma centers.

A study by the National Transportation Institute has determined that for every alcoholic beverage sold in California, 90 cents is spent on health care and related costs resulting from alcohol-related traffic collisions alone.

Approximately 1/3 of all injuries that are treated at emergency rooms and trauma centers in California result from alcohol-related traffic accidents. This does not include assaults, domestic violence, or other types of injuries, which according to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, have high associations with alcohol use.

The legislation is estimated to generate $500 million annually. The fee would be levied at the wholesale level. The bill guarantees that 100% of the money will be used to defray the rising cost of operating emergency rooms, trauma centers and first response teams, including paramedic and firefighter units.

"In light of our $21 billion budget deficit, California taxpayers cannot continue to bear the financial burden for an industry’s product that is responsible for substantial health care costs to the public and the state," Romero said as she stood in front of White Memorial Medical Center. "The alcohol industry must assume greater responsibility for a product that, by its design, debilitates an individual’s physical and mental capacities."

The Governor’s proposed cuts of $412 million in health care programs and services are going to have a devastating impact on California’s already struggling emergency rooms and trauma centers, she said, adding that counties will be hard pressed to find the funding necessary to help keep California’s health care delivery system afloat.

The legislation comes on the heels of Governor Davis’ announcement last week that he has eliminated a one-time appropriation of $25 million to assist struggling trauma centers in California and has rolled-back Medi-Cal reimbursement to 1985 levels.

The proposal is co-sponsored by a diverse coalition, including the California Medical Association (CMA), California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the California Firefighters Association.

"In 1999, emergency and trauma systems in California incurred $317 million in losses. In 2000, we saw $325 million in ER and trauma system losses, with another $100 million in uncompensated care provided in each of those years by ER-based physicians," said Brian Johnston, M.D., a CMA trustee and Medical Director of the Emergency Department at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles. "This is a hemorrhage that has to be stopped. The Emergency Medical System is in crisis and operating at heavy losses, and we simply have to get funding from additional sources."

Numerous health experts and studies have determined that emergency rooms throughout California are closing their doors for hours at a time because they are overcrowded. And trauma centers are permanently closing their doors at an alarming rate. In the past 10 years, more than 60 emergency rooms have closed statewide. In Los Angeles County alone, the number of trauma centers has dwindled to 13, with several of those threatened with closure.

"Alcohol’s use and abuse continues to have a devastating impact on our emergency health care system. Every year we are faced with more and more closures of trauma centers, and local ERs are turning patients away because they are overcrowded. We cannot stand by and let the emergency medical system in California flat line and die while the alcohol industry reaps its profits. Five-For-Life is sensible, fair and long overdue," Romero added.

For information on ER losses for the past few years, go to CMA's ER loss report