Nearly 4,000 health care professionals traveled from all over California Tuesday hoping to persuade lawmakers to fully fund the state’s Medicaid program: Medi-Cal. That included vanloads from Tehama and Shasta counties who came from three hospitals – St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff and Mercy Medical Center in both Redding and Mount Shasta.
Debbie Nickell, a unit coordinator and EKG and audiology technician at Mercy Medical Center, said she’s attending the rally because Medi-Cal reimbursements are too low. She said hospitals and doctors aren’t getting the money they need to cover their overhead – so Medi-Cal patients aren’t being seen.
“These are people that have a low income and they need a little extra help to maintain a healthy lifestyle and then get back on their feet,” she says. “And we do have the funding in the state of California. We’re just not fully funded.”
Nickell said California pays some of the lowest reimbursement rates in the nation.
The rally at the capitol today was part of a $10 million campaign called We Care California — a self-described coalition of doctors, nurses, hospitals and other healthcare leaders.
Whether or not the rally will have any impacts on lawmakers and Governor Brown won’t be known until the governor signs the final budget on June 15.