Tight budget threatens acupuncture, other Medi-Cal services
Sunday December 15, 2002By 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
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