SACRAMENTO – In the wake of the Budget Conference Committee voting Thursday to reject the restoration of Medi-Cal provider rates, Assembly Budget Committee Vice-Chair Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo) and Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway (R-Tulare) today sent a letter to Governor Jerry Brown, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Speaker Toni Atkins urging them to reconsider this action and restore efforts to raise reimbursement rates.

“The shortage of doctors that our state currently faces will have a devastating effect for Medi-Cal patients,” stated Assemblyman Gorell. “With many doctors already choosing not to accept Medi-Cal patients, this decision will result in even fewer health care options for low income California families.”

“At the end of the day, it is irresponsible to jeopardize California’s health care system by rejecting the provider rate restoration,” stated Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway. “Reverse this penny wise and pound foolish decision, and instead work with us across party lines to restore the Medi-Cal provider rate within the over $10 billion in new funding.”

The refusal to raise the Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate is considered surprising since both the Senate and the Assembly had previously proposed restoration of the provider rate, and there has been bipartisan support for the restoration. The Senate proposed restoring the Medi-Cal provider-rate reduction prospectively for most providers starting July 1, 2014. The Assembly proposed to forgive retroactive payment reductions starting July 1, 2014, and eliminate the rate reduction for all providers starting April 1, 2015.