Tight budget threatens acupuncture, other Medi-Cal services
Sunday December 15, 2002
By JESSICA V. BRICE
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO (AP) Lakshmi Lambert is one of the few
acupuncturists in the state who takes patients covered by Medi-Cal,
the state's low-income health insurance plan.
The state only pays about $16 per person for a session compared
to her regular rate of $90, but Lambert says she continues to take
on Medi-Cal patients because it is important to them.
``It's a necessary health need. It's something that has to be
offered,'' said Lambert, who owns Family Health, an acupuncture
clinic in Los Angeles.
But with the state facing a $21 billion budget deficit over the
next 18 months, Medi-Cal patients are bracing for proposed cuts to
a handful of optional benefits, including alternative medicines
such as acupuncture.
Taxpayer groups and budget conservatives like the idea, saying
the state shouldn't have started paying for acupuncture and other
alternative benefits in the first place.
California offers 34 optional benefits the maximum under
federal law many of which aren't covered by most private
insurance companies. Acupuncture has been offered since 1978.
``What private insurance companies cover is a good benchmark for
what Medi-Cal should cover,'' said Jon Coupal, president of the
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. ``Although the state may like
acupuncture, it's the taxpayers who are being needled.''
But avid supporters say it would be a big mistake for the state
to discontinue acupuncture benefits.
``Acupuncture works as a preventive medicine,'' said Howard
Kong, who owns two acupuncture clinics in Oakland and San Francisco
with his father. ``In the long run, it will prevent the state from
having to spend money on more costly treatments.''
He said many of his patients, especially the elderly in the
Asian community, turn to acupuncture to relieve pain rather than
rely on pricey medication.
If acupuncture is dropped from the list of benefits, the state
can expect to save about $666,000 in the last quarter of this
fiscal year, according to the Department of Finance. That comes to
about $2.6 million for a full year.
That number is relatively low when compared to the $48.5 million
quarterly price tag for adult dental services. Because of that,
acupuncture, which has been in line to be cut from Medi-Cal
numerous times in the past, could survive this year's budget
battle.
``To some extent, the amount of potential savings isn't worth
upsetting the constituents that support acupuncture,'' said Chris
Perrone, deputy director at the independent Medi-Cal Policy
Institute.
The argument is also true for other benefits such as
chiropractic services, which has a strong lobby and would only save
about $100,000 during the last quarter of this fiscal year if cut.
But Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, vice chairman of the
Assembly Budget Committee, said the state needs to cut costs
anywhere possible, even if it means upsetting constituents for
relatively inexpensive budget items.
``That's how we got into a $21 billion budget deficit in the
first place,'' he said. ``No one has a $20 billion solution that
takes care of the entire deficit. It's always made up of hundreds
and hundreds of smaller items.''
The move to roll back Medi-Cal benefits is part of Gov. Gray
Davis' proposal to cut $10 billion in education, health care and
other programs over the next 18 months.
Other benefits slated to be cut are adult dental, medical
supplies, podiatry, psychology, independent rehabilitation and
occupational therapy. In all, the move is expected to save the
state more than $63 million in the last quarter of the 2002-03
fiscal year, and $274 million annually.
Davis also proposed cutting payments to some non-hospital
Medi-Cal providers by 10 percent and requiring Medi-Cal recipients
to provide proof of eligibility four times a year. The changes
could force some 200,000 people out of Medi-Cal, officials said.
Ken August, spokesman for the Department of Health, said even if
the state cuts some of the optional benefits, it will still have
more than many states.
``California is one of only 17 states to offer adult dental
benefits,'' he said.
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On the Net:
Medi-Cal: http://www.medi-cal.ca.gov
Medi-Cal Policy Institute: http://www.medi-cal.org
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)