CMA and a coalition of more than 70 consumer, patient, and provider advocacy groups are seeking a 15 percent Medi-Cal provider rate increase in the 2006-07 state budget. This long-overdue pay raise is critical to preserving and improving access to care for the state’s most vulnerable populations.

The Assembly Budget Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the issue on Monday, May 1. All physicians interested in advocating for the rate increase are encouraged to attend. The hearing begins at 4 p.m. at the State Capitol, room 127. Physicians from Alameda Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Sierra Sacramento, and Yuba-Sutter-Colusa County medical societies have already volunteered to attend the hearing and speak in support of the increase.

There has been just one general Medi-Cal physician rate increase in the last 20 years, and per-patient Medicaid spending by California ranks last among the 50 states. Low Medi-Cal rates already have forced many physicians to stop seeing new Medi-Cal patients or to leave the program completely. More than 60 percent of Medi-Cal recipients report difficulty finding a physician. Many Medi-Cal patients are forced to forgo care or use hospital emergency departments as their primary health care provider, thereby lengthening waits, increasing costs, and decreasing quality of care for everyone.

Contact: Susan Bassett, 916/444-5532 or sbassett@cmanet.org.