One of the 18 state ballot propositions in November has the strong support of Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital. Proposition 52 would require voter approval before any Medi-Cal reimbursement money could be diverted from a hospital fee program. The program, established in 2009, requires hospitals to pay a fee to help California obtain available Federal funding. This program has resulted in hospitals getting about 2-billion dollars a year. But Kevin Riggs, with the “Yes on 52” campaign, says in 2011, the Legislature diverted about half-a-billion dollars, to help close the state’s budget gap…

click to listen to Kevin Riggs

Riggs says there are currently about 26-thousand people enrolled in Medi-Cal in Nevada County, with about half being children, the biggest beneficiaries…

click to listen to Kevin Riggs

Riggs says Medi-Cal enrollment has also greatly expanded in California recently, thanks to the Federal Health Care Reform Act making it available for more residents.