Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 7, 2009
Recession hits medical care

California hospitals are seeing more uninsured patients and more who cannot pay their bills due to the state's severe recession, the California Hospital Association says in a new survey of its members.

The survey of hospital financial officers in November found a 73 percent increase in patients having difficulty paying their bills and a 33 percent increase in uninsured patients, plus a 30 percent drop in demand for elective medical procedures.

"As more people lose their jobs in this declining economy, they also are losing their job-based health insurance," said CHA president Duane Dauner. "The growing number of uninsured patients, coupled with inadequate Medi-Cal payments and the ripple effects of the financial market crisis, is leading to a decline in the financial health of California's hospitals at the very time when demand for health care services is growing."

CHA notes that the state has the 49th lowest number of hospital beds in relationship to population and is dead last among the states in relative financing of Medi-Cal, the state's health program for the poor. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state officials have asked for a multibillion-dollar boost in federal funds for the program to relieve pressure on the deficit-ridden state budget.

A copy of the full CHA survey is available here.

Categories: California by the Numbers
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/ca ... 18357.html