Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

Further cuts in reimbursement rates are forcing doctors to reject new patients.After San Diego ear, nose and throat physician Ted Mazer recently billed the state’s medical insurance program for the poor for a tonsillectomy, he got a check for $168, too little to cover surgical costs. The balance came out of his pocket.Now legislators have cut the rates even further, leaving Mazer resolved to shut his doors to new Medi-Cal patients. Almost every other specialist in his field countywide has already done the same, he said.”I am the last guy I know of still taking [Medi-Cal] on a regular basis,” he said. “I am seeing patients from the Riverside and Orange County lines all the way down to the border.”Statewide, many other doctors report that they too are abandoning Medi-Cal, even those who had stuck with it for years out of a sense of professional responsibility.In response, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to announce in Sacramento on Tuesday that a coalition of local governments and healthcare providers plans to file suit to force a rollback of the 10% cut in fees paid to doctors that was approved by legislators in February.

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