Bill to Share Costs Of Unpaid Urgent Care Put on Hold

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Bill to Share Costs Of Unpaid Urgent Care Put on Hold

Health Care

by Laurence Darmiento

A measure that would have bailed out doctors and hospitals for the costs of treating the uninsured at emergency rooms a particularly critical issue in Los Angeles will not be on the state’s November ballot.

The Coalition to Preserve Emergency Care, an alliance of the state’s doctors, hospitals and other emergency service groups, has decided not to pursue an initiative that would have raised up to $300 million for emergency care.

The coalition, which has been considering the initiative for months, decided not to go forward after polling indicated state voters were mixed to the idea, said Dustin Corcoran, a California Medical Association lobbyist.

The measure would have placed a surcharge on moving violations ranging from $20 to as much as $500 for drunk driving convictions on the theory that auto accident victims are a major user of emergency care and drivers who violate the law are often a cause of accidents.

This is the second time a ballot measure to raise funds for emergency care has failed to get off the ground in recent months. A proposal for a quarter cent sales tax hike never got to the polling stage after backers decided the time was not ripe.

Emergency rooms traditionally have been loss leaders for hospitals, serving as a key point of entry for paying patients as well. But Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Healthcare Association of Southern California, the region’s hospital trade group, said the losses have just gotten too high.

“The unreimbursed care costs are getting prohibitive,” he said.

Emergency care advocates say they are looking for other ideas.

Terror Tab

The bill for terrorism preparedness is coming due for area hospitals.

A task force composed of county emergency and hospital industry officials has given its estimate of the cost for the protective gear, medical supplies and drugs Los Angeles County hospitals should purchase.

The cost is $34,000 at a minimum for each facility, and several times that for larger hospitals that would be expected to draw larger numbers of casualties in any chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack.

“Each hospital is going to have to determine (the drug stock) they want to have on hand,” said Carol Gunter, assistant director of the county’s Emergency Medical Services Agency.

The tab does not include the cost of decontamination facilities, such as outdoor showers, that the county wants hospitals to set up. That issue is still being studied by the task force, and federal grant funding may be available.

The supplies are intended to outfit a five-member hospital decontamination team that would be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning 25 to 30 hospital personnel would need training.

Among the dozen-plus drugs recommended are atropine, a nerve gas antidote, and Cipro, the antibiotic effective against anthrax.

Staff reporter Laurence Darmiento can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 237 or at

[email protected].

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