Judge upholds Medi-Cal cuts

LOS ANGELES —Snatching a short-lived victory away from thousands of pharmacists in California, a state court here reversed an earlier decision to halt a steep, 10 percent cut in the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal.

The ruling, issued July 29 by Los Angeles Superior Court judge William Highberger, overturned a court injunction issued just days earlier. Highberger ruled that the cuts, which went into effect July 1, would remain in effect on the grounds that the court didn’t have the legal authority to halt the cuts, despite issuing a statement in support of the argument by pharmacy advocates that the cuts would harm local pharmacy operators and could curtail access to health care for millions of low-income Californians.

“The court recognized the dramatic impacts the Medi-Cal cuts will have on Medi-Cal beneficiaries and the state’s healthcare system, but ruled on narrow procedural grounds” said Craig Cannizzo, the attorney for the coalition of healthcare providers that sued in May to block the reduction in payments.

The 10 percent reduction was adopted in an emergency budget session of California’s legislature early this year, and was immediately opposed by pharmacy and other health-care provider groups. Its impact, beginning July 1, has been to reduce the $7.25 fee California pharmacists are paid to dispense Medi-Cal prescriptions to approximately $6.50.

“This is a terrible blow to Medi-Cal providers across the state,” said Lynn Rolston, chief executive officer of the California Pharmacists Association. “Some pharmacists have already begun turning away patients as they are losing $10, $20, $30 or more on nearly every prescription filled.”