Children's Specialty Care Coalition Seeks to Protect California's Sickest Children...

Children's Specialty Care Coalition Seeks to Protect California's Sickest Children from Budget Cuts that Limit Access to Care

Nonprofit Children's Specialty Care Coalition Responds to Proposed
Budget Plan
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--"We have grave concerns over today's announcement of proposed
budget cuts to Medi-Cal and CCS physician rates because it will
further jeopardize access to health care services for California's
sickest children," says Dr. Thomas Klitzner, President, Children's
Specialty Care Coalition, a safety network of pediatric specialists.

California suffers a serious shortage of pediatric specialists;
physicians are going to states with better practice environments. As a
result, seriously ill children, many with life-threatening conditions,
currently wait months to see a specialist.

Facts:

-- California has a shortage of pediatric endocrinologists;
children with diabetes face 4 month waits for appointments.

-- Medi-Cal and California Children's Services reimbursements for
medical specialists have been adjusted only once in more than
26 years; rates are among the lowest in the nation.

-- California spends about 30% less than the nat'l average for
Medi-Cal beneficiaries; the least per beneficiary among the
ten most populous states.

All of this adds up to rapidly dwindling access to health care for
catastrophically ill children. Further cuts will serve to speed up the
negative trend, severely restrict already restricted access, and
increase the waiting time for delivery of needed care. "Access to
waiting lists is not access to health care. We are hopeful we can
continue to work with the Governor and the Legislature to find
solutions that do not inflict harm on California's most gravely ill,
vulnerable children - children with cancer, congenital heart disease,
cleft palates and cystic fibrosis," says Klitzner.

Media Resources:

-- Jaclyn, 15 year old beneficiary of CCS network (Sacramento)

-- Terri Schmidt, Jaclyn's mother and advocate for other CCS
families (Sacramento)

-- Linda Swan, Family Voices, nonprofit serving 25,000 California
kids with special healthcare needs (San Francisco)

-- Thomas Klitzner, MD, PhD, President, Children's Specialty Care
Coalition (Los Angeles)

-- Erin Aaberg Givans, Exec. Dir., Children's Specialty Care
Coalition (Sacramento)

Children's Specialty Care Coalition is a nonprofit association
representing more than 1,000 pediatric specialists in California.
www.childrens-coalition.org

for Children's Specialty Care Coalition
Susan Aronson, 916-212-8937
Susana@surewest.net

Copyright Business Wire 2008