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.

In the attached PDF from the Farmworker Justice are the guidelines for federally funded healthcare providers.

The Hmong Health Collaborative met at UC Merced to discuss a topic that has been ignored for too long — health problems in the Hmong population.  Read more in the article by Carole Reiter in the Merced Sun-Star.

One of the first pieces of the new national health law to take effect will allow young people to stay on their parents’ insurance until they turn 26.
Article by Victoria Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer.

CA has decided to request that CA be able to run its own high risk pool (it has the option of running own, or have feds run it for CA) and to use MRMIB as the governance and operational framework.  View the Governor”s press release.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger outlines his comprehensive plans to reform California’s broken health care system by addressing the hidden costs that result in billions of dollars in higher premiums and taxes.

President Obama signed legislation on March 23, 2010, to overhaul the nation’s health care system and guarantee access to medical insurance for tens of millions of Americans.  Read the story from the New York Times.