Flickr photo by David Bruce Jr.
A year after dropping several Medi-Cal benefits, the state Department of Health Care Services has reinstated one – optometry services – upon realizing that eliminating it violated federal law.
By law, the state cannot eliminate optometry services if physicians can still provide them and if they were previously funded by the state.
"We're working voluntarily to reinstate the benefits, and we're not going to try to eliminate it again," said Tony Cava, spokesman for the DHCS. "We're following the law."
About 400,000 Californians used Medi-Cal's optometry services in fiscal year 2008-09, before they were cut last July along with eight other "optional benefits," Cava said. About 70 percent of these recipients were affected by the elimination, which applies to adults 21 and over, with the exception of those in most long-term care facilities and pregnant women.
Reducing Medi-Cal benefits saved the state a projected $93.9 million in the general fund and resulted in a $150.5 million loss of federal funds, according to the state Assembly budget committee.
In all, more than 932,000 Medi-Cal recipients lost services last year, the Assembly said. Aside from optometry, the other eliminated benefits remain off-limits. Here's how many people the DHCS says were using each service in 2006-07:
- Optometry: 731,906
- Dental: 932,114
- Acupuncture: 32,906
- Audiology: 28,061
- Speech therapy: 1,593
- Chiropractic: 12,439
- Podiatry: 85,129
- Psychology: 4,970
- Incontinence creams and washes: 65,591
Putting optometry services back on the books this year will cost $6.7 million, with $3.3 million coming from the state's general fund, Cava said. The DHCS estimates 138,000 people will use the benefits.
Optometry coverage kicks in again July 26. The DHCS announced the change on its website last week and has notified providers in a bulletin. It will begin informing county welfare directors and Medi-Cal liaisons soon, and recipients will be notified in the program's quarterly newsletter in October, Cava said.
Cava said the department is also reviewing whether it is liable for optometry costs that Medi-Cal recipients incurred this past year.
An average of 1.8 million people were enrolled in Medi-Cal each month in 2008-09, and the DHCS estimates that figure will grow by nearly 80,000 this year.
The Legislature has rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's calls for more cuts to Medi-Cal benefits this year.
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