Opinion: Cutting Emergency Services Fund Endangers EDs

Through the Maddy Emergency Medical Services Fund, "California's counties collect fines and reimburse emergency and on-call physicians and hospitals for treating the uninsured," Andrea Brault -- president of the California chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians and an emergency physician is Los Angeles County -- writes in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece. Brault adds, "If the state succeeds in cutting these funds, emergency rooms throughout the state could close their doors." She concludes, "By eliminating the Maddy Fund, the budget conference committee may be able to conserve $55 million for the general fund. But to what end?"

• "Budget Cut Would Push ERs Closer to Closure" (Brault, Sacramento Bee, 3/16).