Bill Would Order Study of State’s Rural Health Care Problems
As the Legislature begins to wrap up its session, the Assembly is considering a bill (AB 532) that would order the Legislative Analyst's Office to conduct a study of the state's rural health care problems, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports. The bill, sponsored by Assembly member Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto), has already passed the Assembly and the Senate as a consent item, but the Senate added more co-sponsors and that version must be approved by the Assembly. According to Fred Johnson, president-elect of the California State Rural Health Association, the study would be the first to formally examine rural communities' health care problems, including the exodus of Medicare+Choice health plans. Cogdill introduced the legislation in response to the exit of MCOs from his district, one of his aides said, adding that the study "would be a first step" toward trying "to fix the problem." If the measure is passed by the Assembly and signed by Gov. Gray Davis (D), the Legislative Analyst's Office will conduct the study and report results by July 1, 2002, at no additional expense to the state (Mitchell, Chico Enterprise-Record, 8/20).
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