Want to Know Why It’s Vital to Hospitals?
If you are confused and drowning in the myriad propositions on the Nov. 8 ballot, and you can only remember one, then be sure it’s Proposition 52.
It is extremely important to hospitals across California, but especially to our two because we serve so many Medi-Cal patients. Without Proposition 52’s passage, NorthBay Healthcare stands to lose millions of dollars in matching federal funds.
The measure protects a partnership first created in 2009 between the state and local hospitals that has resulted in new federal funds that would otherwise be unavailable, at no cost to state taxpayers. Under the partnership, hospitals provide the state with up-front funds necessary to receive matching federal dollars. The combined federal and hospital money is then re-distributed to hospitals like ours based on our Medi-Cal patient caseload.
The money follows the patient, with funds being used to help cover the cost of providing care to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. There is strict oversight at both the state and federal levels on how these funds are used.
But the law creating this partnership expires in 2017, putting billions of dollars at risk of being left unclaimed in Washington, D.C., if Proposition 52 isn’t passed by voters. Please take time to learn more about this important measure by visiting the Proposition 52 campaign website at www.yesprop52.org. You also can follow the campaign on Twitter @Yes52TriedTrue and on Facebook by “liking” the initiative at Facebook.com/YesProp52/.