Governor Requests Continued Funding of King/Drew
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday wrote a letter to federal regulators endorsing a proposal to maintain services at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reports (Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, 10/25).
King/Drew failed a CMS inspection conducted over the summer, resulting in a loss of eligibility to participate in Medicare at a cost to the medical center of about $200 million annually. King/Drew could lose federal funding as soon as Nov. 30 (California Healthline, 10/18).
In a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, Schwarzenegger requested that King/Drew receive continued funding for one more year along with an additional $50 million to offset the cost of the proposed transfer of administration of the facility to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Schwarzenegger wrote that the plan was "clear evidence" of reform.
CMS currently is reviewing the proposal.
Bruce Chernof, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, said he hopes CMS would endorse the plan before a Nov. 6 public hearing (Los Angeles Times, 10/25).