Commentary: Duals Demonstration Project Leaves Many Vulnerable Individuals With Gaps in Care

In a guest commentary, Roger Smith -- managing editor at the CHCF Center for Health Reporting -- writes that California's demonstration project for individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, has left "lots of vulnerable people ... stripped of their regular doctor, and facing a bureaucratic maze to get that care reinstated." The center is supported by a grant from the California HealthCare Foundation, which publishes California Healthline. Smith cites a recent UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that "[m]any of the people who are likely enrollees 'are so physically, mentally and socially vulnerable ... that they could not withstand even temporary gaps in care.'"

• "Medi-Cal Experiment Is Failing Most Vulnerable Patients: Guest Commentary" (Smith, Los Angeles Daily News, 10/7).