While the healthcare imbroglio meanders on in Congress, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is being forced to decide how to resolve California’s own healthcare crisis. The state ranks last nationwide in terms of medical coverage for low income residents. This means that poor people are forced to turn to emergency rooms for everything from undiagnosed cancers to the common cold and, as a result, more than half of state hospitals are operating in the red.
One way to resolve that, at least temporarily, is to divert federal stimulus funds to Medi-Cal. A bill now sitting on the Governor’s desk would spend $2 billion that way, with large sums going to bail out the hospitals that need the money most. In San Jose, O’Connor Hospital could receive $6 million as a result, while the county’s Valley Medical Center could get as much as $15 million. The governor has until this Sunday to approve the funding.
Will he sign it? County Executive Jeff Smith is optimistic. He explains that the bill would enable the state “to draw down funds from federal sources without putting the state’s general fund at risk.” What he fails to mention is that this just a band-aid for what amounts to a deep gash in public spending. It may help pull hospitals out of the red for now, but it will not solve the problem that got them into the red in the first place.
Please write and call the Governor with your support. The bill number is AB 303 by Assemblymember Jim Beall Jr.