Monterey, CA California Cutting Medi-Cal Benefits

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Thirteen states, including California, have announced that they are making major cuts to their Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) programs, tightening eligibility requirements and/or paying health providers less.  A full 60 million people have been targeted for cuts or elimination in the program at a time when President Barack Obama is trying to expand the program to include 17 million more people.  "With more people on Medicaid, states will have to continue to ratchet down payments and limit services," Nina Owcharenko, Director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told USA Today.  In California, a $15 fee has been added for those that go to the ER for routine care and hospital reimbursement rates are being cut by $150 million per year.  The expansion in California under the Affordable Care Act hinges on the results from the November elections.  Governor Jerry Brown has said the state will implement President Obama's health care reform, however, this position will be reevaluated if voters don't vote in proposed tax increases in November.  This is a sad state of affairs as it seems that seniors and the poor have bore the brunt of budget cuts in California recently.