Children With Chronic Illnesses In Riverside County Could Be Turned Away

Riverside County health leaders announced a public hearing on potential public health cuts on Monday.

Because of funding cuts to a program that helps children with diseases like cancer and cystic fibrosis, some health department leaders fear more than 400 patients could be turned away next year. They said it’s part of a proposal to be discussed at a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors on May 16.

Based on county projections, the proposed cuts would reduce funding to the California Children’s Services (CCS) Program and deny new applications for service to 436 children who do not qualify for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families.

Health department leaders said proposed cuts would eliminate diagnostic and treatment medical services for otherwise eligible children. The cuts will also cause the fund that pays medical providers to be exhausted before the fiscal year ends on June 30, 2012. Payment could be delayed until the following fiscal year.

They said Riverside County opens 3,355 new CCS cases each year. Two-thirds of those patients are eligible for Medi-Cal, while 19 percent are eligible for the Healthy Families program. That leaves about 13 percent who do not qualify for either program.

That portion represents the new patients who would be affected by the proposed service reductions.

Children currently served by the program should not be affected by the proposed reduction, unless their status with Medi-Cal or Healthy Families changes.

Despite potential cuts, the county remains committed to meeting the community’s public health needs to the greatest extent possible, said Susan Harrington, director of the county’s Department of Public Health.

“We remain dedicated to providing the best care to our patients as possible despite the challenge of shrinking revenue,” Harrington said.

The proposed cuts will save the county about $1.3 million. With an annual deficit of about $90 million, Riverside County has cut services countywide and faces even greater cutbacks as a result of the state’s own budget crisis, said county Executive Officer Bill Luna.

“We are cutting costs everywhere and working to reform the pension system so that the county can continue to provide services that are vital to our residents, especially children,” Luna said.