January 4, 2012, 12:05 AM
Attorneys for California’s Medi-Cal program are gearing up to appeal two court rulings issued last week that strike down a 10 percent cut to some medical service providers for low-income Californians. Christina A. Snyder, a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles, ruled in favor of...
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October 19, 2011, 12:05 AM
California’s health program for the needy is approaching the state’s clinics with a controversial request: Send back those checks for root canals, tooth extractions and other dental services rendered within the last year. State coverage for Medi-Cal patient dental...
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January 19, 2011, 12:06 AM
California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott says Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to change the way community colleges are funded is "not a good idea," and that he will try to convince the Legislature to amend it. Scott told California Watch that Brown's proposal would...
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January 10, 2011, 3:18 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown is counting on fewer Medi-Cal users seeing the doctor, visiting the emergency room or spending the night in the hospital - by charging those low-income patients a co-pay of as much as $100. In other words, what's bad for the patient, might be good for the state budget....
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December 8, 2010, 12:05 AM
In Sacramento's desperate attempts to balance the state's budget, California's K-12 public schools and community colleges have been especially hard hit compared to reductions in funding for all other state programs. That's according to calculations by Strategic Education...
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November 15, 2010, 12:05 AM
California is grappling with a fiscal crisis again, and this time the goose that laid the golden egg has flown. In other words, the millions in stimulus funds that helped prop up the state’s lagging coffers are drying up, further darkening an already dismal budget picture. Complicating...
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August 27, 2010, 12:05 AM
Scores of medical providers that rely on the Medi-Cal program for funding are now getting "value of claims" statements in lieu of payments. The Medi-Cal agency ran out of funding for providers that typically see $300 million per month from the state, said Anthony Cava, a...
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July 2, 2010, 12:05 AM
California continues to fall behind other states when it comes to school funding. Just how far? California now ranks 44th in how much it spends on its students – or $2,546 less than the average spent in the rest of the United States. That's the lowest it has been in 40 years...
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May 20, 2010, 12:07 AM
Lawmakers in a budget subcommittee vigorously rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to eliminate the CalWorks program yesterday, sending staff back on a party-line vote to reconsider the cut. The cut could save the state $1.2 billion, but it would also turn away $3.7 billion in...
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May 17, 2010, 5:43 PM
State officials plan to dock pay to California's nursing homes that fail to meet staffing standards set by the state. The move is one in a series of changes meant to make nursing homes more accountable for the taxpayer money they receive. The reforms are part of a larger spending plan for...
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April 29, 2010, 12:08 AM
Child welfare advocates prevailed in a hearing yesterday when Assembly Budget Committee members voted to restore $80 million to state programs from the state's general fund. Flickr photo by Ella's Dad The vote was for funding to be restored in the upcoming budget cycle. As long as it is...
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April 21, 2010, 6:53 AM
President Obama’s dream of creating an “army of new teachers” that he passionately advocated during his election campaign has been shattered, especially in California. Instead of adding new brigades to its teaching corps, California is laying them off – by the tens of...
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April 14, 2010, 12:09 AM
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger knows real estate – a big portion of his movie fortune has been invested in lucrative properties from Santa Monica to Columbus, Ohio. East End Complex, Sacramento But in the state's quest to profit $660 million from the sale of government buildings,...
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March 29, 2010, 12:04 AM
State budget cuts under consideration in Sacramento could lead to losses of well over 400,000 jobs, many held by workers most likely to spend their earnings in state, an analysis by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. The group’s report notes that if the...
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March 22, 2010, 12:04 AM
At least 20 nursing assistants who were blocked from working with the elderly by one state department were cleared to perform similar roles by another department, according to a report released by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes. The report issued Friday found that the lapses...
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