CRLA Suit Improves Health Coverage for Poor Residents

CRLA Suit Improves Health Coverage for Poor Residents

Indigent health care fees on Stanislaus County Agenda.  Photo by  David Bacon

CRLA filed suit seeking a court order to invalidate co-pays for a Stanislaus County's indigent adult health program. Photo David Bacon.

2011

Andrea DeTellis and other CRLA attorneys and staff help move health coverage for poor Stanislaus County residents a step in the right direction.

California Rural Legal Assistance filed suit last December seeking a court order to invalidate co-pays and eligibility guidelines for a Stanislaus County program designed for patients ineligible for Medi-Cal or other program. Until this month, Stanislaus County's indigent adult health program charged patients who visit a Health Services Agency clinic a co-payment that ranged from $3 to $20.

The county responded to CRLA's lawsuit with this month's revisions to the program, based on a new cost-of-living study endorsed by an independent firm, HFS Consultants. The revised program would eliminate a hard-to-manage expense for some of the county's poorest residents. But the county maintained a policy requiring patients with higher earnings to pay hundreds of dollars a month for any health care received.

Tuesday's approval, effective May 1, will require a patient earning $1,654 per month to pay $600 a month for health care, and someone making $1,254 would be charged $200 a month. Anyone with income more than $2,023 would not be eligible.
To read more about this victory for Stanislaus County residents, follow the links below to read the original news article and the updated article from the Modesto Bee.

Use links below to read the full story:
Indigent health care fees on Stanislaus County agenda
By Ken Carlson

Original Story >>

Updated Story >>


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