Sacramento Co. Ordered To Pay for Services for Indigent Health Care
A Sacramento Superior Court judge has ruled that Sacramento County must pay the costs of medical care that UC-Davis Medical Center provided to low-income residents since July 1, 2008, the Sacramento Bee reports (Kalb, Sacramento Bee, 9/30).
Background
David Levine, a UC-Davis Health System attorney, said services for which the county did not pay date back to July 1, 2008, when it ended a contract with UC-Davis for indigent care and entered into a contract with a third-party administrator.
In September 2009, the county adopted a policy to stop paying UC-Davis for emergency medical services provided to low-income residents under the Medically Indigent Services Program. The UC Board of Regents then filed a lawsuit (Johnson, "News 10," ABC, 9/29).
The decision by Judge Lloyd Connelly reinforces a July 2010 ruling, which invalidated a county policy to cease paying UC-Davis for emergency indigent services because the county had no contract with the hospital.
Response to Ruling
Levine said that he is pleased with the ruling and that the decision clears the way for more court proceedings to determine the specific amount owed to the hospital.
Brad Hudson, a county executive, said it is "unfortunate that an arm of the state chose to sue Sacramento County when ironically the state has grossly underfunded this program at the county level."
The county said in a statement that it always has been willing to work with UC-Davis to resolve issues and that the ruling does not change that (Sacramento Bee, 9/30).
For additional coverage on the ruling on indigent care, see today's Capitol Desk post.
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