California: Crisis for poor as Medi-Cal funds end.

[AtomicKitten]

San Francisco Chronicle
Crisis for poor as Medi-Cal funds end

Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

In an emerging crisis for California's elderly and poor, all Medi-Cal funding will be halted this week to an estimated 500 hospitals throughout the state and 11,000 nursing homes, hospices and adult day care centers.

Medi-Cal funds have run out because of the state's monthlong budget impasse, forcing community programs and other facilities into a frantic scramble to cover their bills. Some care facilities for the aged are making plans to close.

California has nearly 6.8 million elderly, frail and chronically infirm Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and many would be forced to find help elsewhere, or make do on their own, without emergency funding from the state Legislature.

But help is unlikely because both the Senate and the Assembly would have to approve an emergency bailout, and the Assembly has gone on summer recess.

"We have not been cut off from Medi-Cal funding before so early in the fiscal year," said Lydia Missaelides, executive director of the California Association for Adult Day Services. "The magnitude of this crisis is overwhelming."

Medi-Cal coffers ran dry last week when the state was scheduled to issue $223 million to managed-care providers. Instead, checks for only $143 million were issued.

* snip *

Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, predicted that Medi-Cal recipients will begin flooding hospital emergency rooms, "making the health crisis even worse ... (as) emergency rooms are already stretched to the breaking point."

She called the Medi-Cal crisis "highly irresponsible."

"It's outrageous that in a state as rich as California, we could have people dying on the street for lack of medical care," she said. "This is going to affect the disabled, seniors, children and the poor ... people are going to start to get hurt."

more at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/01/MEDICAL.TMP&tsp=1

[partylessinOhio]

1. Gone fishing?

In these times of crisis in America - there should be no summer recess -

in the states, in the House or in the Senate.

People will die with facilities closing. :cry:

[AtomicKitten]

2. I think we have yet to see the full impact of this economy.

The federal government has been choking states for years now.

On top of all the rest, America is sliding into deep shit financially, and it is the poorest of Americans that are already really feeling the pain.

:(

[bobbolink]

3. "people are going to start to get hurt."

Start To Get Hurt...

Riiigggghhhhtttttt

It just means that it won't be invisible anymore.



So, California DUers, what are you going to be doing about this?

What are the plans?

[Peace Patriot]

4. Oh, there's plenty of money--it's just in Bush Junta bank accounts in Dubai

or the Cayman Islands.

And then there was Enron, which stole $10 billion from California (our entire surplus, built up under Gov. Davis). We have yet to see the full consequences of "trade secret," proprietary vote "counting" by rightwing Bushite corporations--in California and the rest of the nation. I think it was particularly important in the "recall" (s)election of Schwarzenegger. Greg Palast exposed the May 17, 2001 meeting of Ken Lay, Schwarzenegger, George Schultz and other fascists, to figure out how to prevent California from getting its money back. The meltdown of services to the poor was a planned thing, in my opinion. And we're going to see it--are seeing it--in other states, and nationally. Who do you think is going to pay for the Bush Junta's $10 trillion deficit--non-existent money used to pay for their corporate resource war and for multiple tax cuts for the rich (--and recently, for $4 billion in military aid to the death squad-connected thugs in Colombia, $20 billion to Saudi Arabia and some ungodly number to Israel as well). They've been borrowing against Social Security and government pension funds. (Our entire pension system could collapse!).

I thought it was cute how the "Blue Dog" Democrats came forth, just after the 2006 elections, all talking about "fiscal responsibility." They want to cut everything in the federal budget EXCEPT WAR SPENDING!

Jeez.

It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have such frigging traitors in our party leadership. The state Democratic Party leadership in California colluded in getting rid of our good Secretary of State in 2004--a shameful, traitorous act. He was going after Diebold! He had sued them and demanded to see their source code.

IF, IF, IF....