L.A. County Hospitals Could Lose $200M Under Federal Plan

A new federal proposal would cut Medi-Cal funding for Los Angeles County's five public hospitals by $200 million annually, according to Bruce Chernof, director of the county Department of Health Services, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

The funding cut to the county's public hospital system is part of a proposed $3.8 billion in cuts nationwide that also would include a plan to cap Medicaid reimbursements for hospitals.

Chernof said the cuts would "have devastating local impact on our fragile public health system and jeopardize critical health services for all 10 million county residents, such as trauma and burn care."

The county's public hospitals serve a high proportion of uninsured patients and qualify for a higher reimbursement rate for Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

Chernof added that the proposal "threatens access to care and compromises the health of those who can least afford it."

Some private hospitals also would be affected by the reduced funding if they treat a large number of uninsured patients, according to the Daily News (Peterson, Los Angeles Daily News, 2/4).