March 27, 2015 The Honorable Tony Thurmond Chair, Assembly Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 State Capitol, Room 5150 Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: Item 4260: Medi-Cal Provider Reimbursement Rates On behalf of the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), I am writing to you regarding the Medi-Cal Provider Reimbursement Rate issue. RCRC is an association of thirty-four rural California counties and the RCRC Board of Directors is composed of elected Supervisors from those member counties. As part of the 2011-12 State Budget package, Assembly Bill 97 cut rates to a variety of Medi-Cal providers including Distinct Part/Skilled Nursing Facilities (DP/SNFs), pharmacies, and other fee-for-service Medi-Cal activities by 10 percent off of the 2008 reimbursement rates. Low Medi-Cal reimbursement payments continue to threaten access to health care in rural areas. As the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is being implemented, the need to ensure that as many providers accept Medi-Cal as possible increases; merely having insurance coverage on paper means nothing if you cannot find any providers who will accept it. In rural areas where access to health care is already a concern, further dissuading providers from practice through cuts to Medi-Cal reimbursement rates could be catastrophic. RCRC applauds Assembly Member Bonta and Senator Hernandez for championing this issue with their identical companion measures, Assembly Bill 366 and Senate Bill 243. Both measures seek to remedy the Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate reductions and repeal implementation of prior year Medi-Cal rate reductions, including the 10 percent reduction for affected Medi-Cal providers. The Honorable Tony Thurmond Item 4260: Medi-Cal Provider Reimbursement Rates March 27, 2015 Page 2 We appreciate your attention to this important issue in the Budget process. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (916) 447-4806 or [email protected]. Sincerely, CYNDI B. HILLERY Legislative Advocate cc: The Honorable Rob Bonta, Member of the California State Assembly The Honorable David Chiu, Member of the California State Assembly The Honorable Shannon Grove, Member of the California State Assembly The Honorable Brian Jones, Member of the California State Assembly The Honorable Shirley Weber, Member of the California State Assembly The Honorable Melissa Melendez , Member of the California State Assembly .