Medi-Cal & Medicare Underfunding

Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, is the main source of health care insurance for 6.8 million people, or one in six Californians. During the 2008 – 09 fiscal year, it drew $27 billion in federal funds into the state’s health care system and accounted for 19 percent of General Fund spending.

A new report by the California HealthCare Foundation show that the state's insured and uninsured have undergone significant demographic shifts since 2000.

Higher Medicare copays, sometimes just a few dollars more, led to fewer doctors visits and to more and longer hospital stays, a large new study reveals.

As if the severe shortage of hospital beds in Riverside County weren't bad enough, now we learn that thanks to an antiquated formula, the county also gets the short end of the stick when it comes to state and federal reimbursements for providing emergency health care.