National Expansion of Healthcare Coverage Will Require More CA Doctors Who Will Treat Newly Insured

Advocates applaud healthcare victory -- call for passage of SB 726 to ease economic barrier that keeps 70% of doctors from treating government insured patients

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leading Californian healthcare advocates and civil justice groups applaud passage of national health reform legislation and urge immediate passage of SB 726 -- a bill that would give California's rural hospitals and urban hospitals and clinics in medically underserved areas the ability to recruit and hire doctors to treat the uninsured and patients enrolled in government health insurance programs.

According to the California Medical Association, only 30% of California doctors will treat uninsured or Medi-Cal covered patients because the cost of care far exceeds the rate of reimbursement. SB 726 will ease the "physician hiring ban," allowing hospitals in medically underserved areas and with high rates of government insured patients to offer physicians a stable income, benefits and work conditions to facilitate their working in low income and rural communities.  

"Today, there are not nearly enough doctors in place to serve the current number of Medi-Cal recipients and the uninsured and this situation is rapidly worsening. By lifting the physician hiring ban for hospitals and clinics in high need and rural communities -- a practice approved by the American Medical Association, the Medical Board of California, and common and effective in 45 states -- California will be more prepared to fulfill the promise of this historic healthcare reform. Without doctors to treat these newly government insured patients, reform can't truly be realized," said Tom Petersen, director of government relations for the Association of California Healthcare Districts.

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SB 726 (Ashburn) is supported by more than 50 leading healthcare and community empowerment groups including:

Health Access

AARP 

The Medical Board of California

Catholic Healthcare West

California State Association of Counties

Equality California

California Association of Rural Health Clinics

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Association of California Healthcare Districts

The Regional Council of Rural Counties

California Hospital Association

Congress of California Seniors

California Labor Federation

Californian Alliance of Retired Americans

Dolores C. Huerta Foundation

California Commission on Aging

SOURCE Doctors for All