Several members of the DHLF traveled to Washington, D.C. for advocacy on federal issues of importance to California’s district/municipal hospitals on March 22 and 23. The issues and some background information are outlined in the attached documents which were used in meetings with members of the California Congressional Delegation.
Specifically, the meetings were used to outline our opposition to the proposed Medicaid managed care rule (release of a final rule should be “soon” we learned in meetings); discuss concerns with the site neutrality provisions contained in the federal budget; and include a thank you for efforts on the part of the Delegation to ensure district/municipal public hospitals were included in Medi-Cal 2020, the 1115 waiver, via the PRIME program.
As has been discussed at Board meetings, it is important for our elected officials to hear directly from those “in the trenches” so both DHLF staff and those we met with are appreciative of members who made the cross-country trip:
Elly Garner, Palomar Health
Charlie Harrison, San Bernardino Mountains Community Hospital
Adrienne Laurent, Salinas
Lindsay Mann, Kaweah Delta
John McCormick, Oak Valley
Jim McManus, Marin General Hospital
Jim Raggio, Lompoc
Mark Turner, San Gorgonio
Brenda Weyhrauch, Sierra View
Our DHLF federal advocate, Charity Bracy, coordinated a well-organized trip that included meetings with staff and members representing 33 members (including staff in the offices of the two U.S. Senators) of the California Congressional Delegation.
Also last week, CHA had a meeting scheduled with CMS to go over some of the California specific issues and other challenges related to the site neutrality provisions of the budget. Jim Raggio, Brenda Weyhrauch and Elly Garner took the opportunity of being in D.C. to participate in the CMS meeting to discuss the real examples all California hospitals are facing with this late inclusion in the budget.
As noted, the documents used are attached, so feel free to use those if you have any members of the Delegation visiting your hospital. Any new information on the issues outlined will be communicated as it becomes known.