The Los Angeles County Health Department joined the chorus of California hospitals and health plans lobbying the state to pay $500 million in emergency payments to public hospitals facing severe financial losses.
California Assn. The Department of Public Hospitals and Health Systems is requesting a one-time general fund payment in the 2026-27 budget to help cover inpatient care. fee for service for Medi-Cal patients in 17 public hospitals.
Although the exact percentage of the $500 million allocated to each hospital will depend on patient applications, the district expects that about 25%, or $125 million, will end up in Los Angeles County hospitals, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of LA Health Services.
“That’s money that’s really needed to act as a buffer and continue the lifestyle that public hospitals desperately need, especially with the government’s proposed plan to move unregistered people from managed care to fee-for-service,” Ghaly said.
Ghaly praised the voters of the district passes Measure ERthat would provide about $220 million a year over the next five years to the county’s health system through the new half-cent sales tax, Ghaly said.
But it’s not enough to stop what the district estimates will be an annual loss of $700 million in the 2028-29 fiscal year.
LA Health Services is the largest public health system in the state and the second largest in the nation. It acts as a safety net for the state’s 10 million residents, providing health care regardless of a person’s ability to pay.
More than 80% of the program’s patients rely on Medi-Cal, Los Angeles General Medical Center CEO Jorge Orozco said. he told state Senate committee in March.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law last summer, changes Medicaid eligibility requirements and includes nearly $1 billion in federal Medicaid cuts over 10 years, according to a Medicaid report. Office of the Legal Analyst. As a result, California is expected to lose tens of billions in total funding for Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.
About 660,000 people in Los Angeles County are expected to lose Medi-Cal, “but they won’t stop needing health care,” Orozco said in March. “They will still come to our emergency rooms for everything from common ailments to life-threatening conditions. And even safe hospital systems like ours will be forced to absorb those costs.”
Regional health authorities enacted freeze hiring rules, consolidated services, reduced overtime and took other cost-cutting measures in anticipation of losses, resulting in approximately $230 million in savings.
“But we must be clear: we cannot cut our way out of financial losses in this way,” the department said. statement released this week. “Without help from the Government, we will be forced to consider unwanted, reduced patient services, redundancies and possible facility closures.”
The district has not identified specific facilities to close, Ghaly said.
“We are completely focused on preventing potential damage before we make those difficult decisions,” he added.
A memo on the department’s financial outlook prepared by the Board of Directors was flagged in April.
“For the patients we serve, losing Medi-Cal doesn’t mean they stop getting sick – it means losing access to care. Health Services will still be there, but with more than 600,000 uninsured patients in LA County alone, the strain will be felt in our health system and in every emergency room in Los Angeles County,” memo learn.
“Without new sources of revenue, the NHS will have no choice but to consider planned resource cuts – including possible facility closures and layoffs – from early 2027.”
