Calif. Community Clinics Face Delayed Payments, Potential Budget Cuts
Administrators of community health clinics in California are concerned about their budgets as they face proposed cuts to health and human services programs and delayed payments, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Proposed Cuts
Earlier this year, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) proposed cutting $100 million in funding that federally qualified health centers receive for administrative overhead.
Last month, subcommittees in the Assembly and Senate blocked progression of the proposal.
Brown's revised fiscal year 2012-2013 budget plan also calls for taking $100 million in federal funding from the state's public hospitals, some of which would reimburse the facilities for services provided.
Payment Delays
Meanwhile, clinics across the state are reporting significant delays in payments from the state Department of Health Care Services.
Anthony Cava, DHCS spokesperson, said the agency is not holding onto federal payments longer because of state budget problems. He said a transition from one fiscal intermediary to another has caused delays.
Cava noted that Community Health Systems is one of the entities that will "be placed in the queue for payment, which will happen in the next couple of weeks."
Community Health Systems plans to utilize the funding to comply with federal regulations for the adoption of electronic health records (Steinberg, Contra Costa Times, 6/4). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.