For Immediate Release Media Contact: Lynne Ashbeck 559.284.9731 lashbeck@hospitalcouncil.

net

Hospital Council of Northern and Central California Urges Legislature to Spare All Seniors from Deep Medi-Cal Cuts
Preserving Access to Hospital-Based Skilled-Nursing Care is Critical to States Most Vulnerable Patients Fresno, CA (August 29, 2013) As the 2013 legislative session draws to a close, local hospital leaders are urging lawmakers to protect access to hospital-based skilled-nursing care by reversing draconian MediCal cuts. Earlier this month, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) exempted rural hospitals from deep payment cuts and reduced reimbursement rates. Hospital Council of Northern and Central California leaders said that seniors throughout California deserve access to the most effective and efficient care, so the exemption should be expanded to include all hospitals. Assembly Bill 900 (AB900) will partially reverse devastating Medi-Cal cuts to hospital-based skillednursing facilities. These cuts will put the health and safety of some of Californias most medically complex patients, frail seniors and disabled at risk. AB900 will save the state money and preserve essential services for patients who cannot go without medically necessary care and treatment. AB900 will help keep seniors and disabled patients needing specialized care and rehabilitation safe in the communities where they belong, according to Lynne Ashbeck, Hospital Council Regional Vice President serving the Central Valley and the Central Coast. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Diana Dooleys recent decision to partially exempt rural hospital-based skilled-nursing facilities from looming Medi-Cal payment cuts is an important step in addressing access to critical health care services. This decision protects the states most vulnerable patients who live in rural areas by sparing these hospitals from previously announced 25 percent or greater cuts and halting a rate freeze based on 2008-09 payment levels. Both cuts collectively represented a debilitating financial hit on facilities that, in many cases, provide the only source of health care in their communities. The cuts, which stemmed from legislation enacted in 2011 (AB 97), have forced many skilled nursing facilities that are part of acute care hospitals to make plans for cutbacks or closure. The decision by DHCS will help to preserve access to care in rural communities throughout the state. However, there are still a number of difficult issues to work out, including the financial retroactive cuts affecting the hospitals dating back to the enactment of AB97 in 2011. Medi-Cal beneficiaries make up nearly 80 percent of the patients receiving hospital-based skillednursing care in California. These patients often require specialized or medically complex care that freestanding nursing facilities and other health care providers do not provide. In the last five years,

approximately 40 hospital-based skilled nursing facilities in California (about one-third) have closed due to financial issues. Communities across the State have several hospitals that are extremely vulnerable should these MediCal cuts proceed. For example, the 96-bed Palomar Continuing Care Center in Escondido (San Diego County) has already closed its doors as a result of the Medi-Cal cuts. With implementation of the Affordable Care Act, we are working to expand access to coverage and care. We cannot move forward to improve access to health care in California if were cutting back on the services that are most critical to patients and their families, stated Ashbeck. Hospital Council of Northern and Central California is part of a statewide bipartisan coalition supporting Assembly Bill (AB) 900, authored by Assemblymember Luis Alejo, (D Salinas), which represents a partial solution to reverse some of the cuts. The coalition includes labor, business, local government, non-profits and health care leaders including United Ways of California, California State Association of Counties, and several local Chambers of Commerce. AB 900, which is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File, may be considered on Friday August 30. The bill has received unanimous bipartisan support. Not a single lawmaker has cast a no vote on the bill during roll calls in both the Assembly and the Senate. The Hospital Council of Northern and Central California is a nonprofit hospital and health system trade association established in 1961, representing 183 hospitals in 50 of Californias 58 counties from Kern County to the Oregon border. The Hospital Councils membership includes hospitals and health systems ranging from small, rural hospitals to large, urban medical centers, representing more than 38,000 licensed beds. ###