Chan Appointed to California Medical Assistance Commission
Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata (D-Oakland) on Friday appointed former Assembly member Wilma Chan (D-Oakland) to the California Medical Assistance Commission, the Oakland Tribune reports. CMAC negotiates payment rates for health care organizations participating in Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program.
Chan served as the chair of the Assembly Health Committee and plans to run for Perata's Senate seat in 2008 when state term limits will bar him from seeking re-election. Chan's term on CMAC runs through Jan. 1, 2009.
Compensation for the position is $50,000 annually plus travel expenses to and from Sacramento where the commission meets twice monthly.
Some taxpayer advocacy and government watchdog groups criticized the appointment and others by Perata as part of a trend among legislative leaders to appoint insiders to "obscure but well-paying commissions and boards," according to the Tribune.
Perata and Chan dismissed the criticism (Geissinger, Oakland Tribune, 1/9).