The Chronic Under-Funding of Medi-Cal and Medicare Programs

California’s 430 hospitals and health systems are shouldering the financial burden of the government’s responsibility to provide care for some of our most vulnerable patients – seniors, the disabled, children and the under-insured. In fact, California’s hospitals provide billions dollars in uncompensated care annually, primarily due to the serious under-funding of the Medi-Cal and Medicare programs.

California hospitals now provide more than $12 billion in care that was provided not paid for. Included in that figure is $4.6 billion in direct losses from inadequate Medi-Cal payments, and $3.8 billion in losses from the Medicare program. Another $3.8 billion was lost treating California’s growing uninsured and local government patients. The Medi-Cal program provides vital health care services to 6.7 million of our state’s most vulnerable populations. Any additional cuts will leave more seniors, children and the disabled without adequate coverage and access to care.

• The Medi-Cal program provides vital health care services to 6.8 million of our state’s most vulnerable populations. Any additional cuts will leave more seniors, children and the disabled without adequate coverage and access to care.

• California ranks dead last in the nation in terms of Medi-Cal payments to doctors and hospitals. According to a study by the Public Policy Institute of California, Medi-Cal patients have become the largest users of hospital emergency rooms, due to a decreasing number of physicians who will accept Medi-Cal’s poor reimbursement rates.