Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly ruled that the county has a duty to provide for emergency medical care for the indigent. The judge, however, stopped short of saying how much the county owes UC Davis.   Read more in the Sac Bee article by Robert Lewis.

The weak economy is crippling the government program that provides life-sustaining antiretroviral drugs to people with H.I.V. or AIDS who cannot afford them.  Read the New York Times article.

California’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board has started accepting names of people with pre-existing conditions who are interested in applying for a new high-risk health insurance pool that will be funded by the federal government and run by the state, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a business-led challenge to a universal health care program in San Francisco that has enrolled more than 53,000 people who lacked health insurance.  Read the Associated Press article by JULIANA BARBASSA.

Minority patients in need of mental health services face unique challenges in seeking such services.   Legal Services of Northern California has identified such disparities in the County mental health program.

Millions of California adults lack dental insurance because of job losses or insufficient access to dental benefits, the Sacramento Bee reports.

It was another afternoon of bad news and grim testimony Tuesday before the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, who are staring at a $122 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“Seniors do not have to do anything to get this check. They don’t have to sign anything. They don’t have to apply for it,” Sebelius said, warning recipients not to be fooled by scam artists seeking personal information by claiming it is necessary to process rebates. LA Times article.

The Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance will be opening a Medi-Cal Service Center on Thursday, June 24, 2010. The Service Center will provide customer service for existing Medi-Cal clients. If you know of someone who is already on Medi-Cal, they will not have to come to the Medi-Cal Office to ask a question or update information on their case anymore. They will just need to call the Medi-Cal Service Center with all their Medi-Cal needs. Staff answering the Medi-Cal Service Center line can help them immediately. The Medi-Cal Service Center numbers are 916-874-3100 or 209-744-0499. The numbers will be active beginning June 24.

Persons applying for Medi-Cal should call our Medi-Cal application line at 916-874-2215.