A 5-year Medicaid waiver program that infused billions of dollars into some public hospitals in California has prompted significant improvements in health care for the state’s poor and uninsured, according to a report. It was conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. It says 17 hospitals participated in a $3.3 billion “pay-for-performance experiment”. Director of Research, Naderah Pourat, says the focus was improved infrastructure, which resulted in increased rates in patient preventative care…

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The report says a higher proportion of patients also received timely appointments and controlled their cholesterol and blood glucose levels better than non-participating hospitals. Meanwhile, California officials now say the current health care reform legislation in the U.S Senate would result in a $114 billion cut to Medicaid funding….

click to listen to Naderah Pourat

Pourat says the waiver program also dramatically improved the rate of mental health screenings for HIV patients, or from 3% to 67%, since such services are normally not available.