LOS ANGELES – May 14, 2018 – Last Friday, Governor Jerry Brown released the May Revision to the 2018-19 State Budget. Despite acknowledging a projected additional $8 billion in higher revenue, the Governor continues his familiar calls for fiscal restraint and warning of future recessions.
Though limited on-going commitments are being made with the additional revenue, we are pleased to see homelessness and mental health services highlighted as areas for new investments. However, we are concerned that the May Revise continues to include the proposed elimination of the 340B Drug Discount Program in Medi-Cal, which allows community health centers to access pharmaceuticals at discounted pricing. Eliminating the use of the 340B program would be extremely detrimental to community health centers that depend on 340B savings to enhance patient services, expand hours of operations, and provide other critical patient support programs in their communities. It would also mean less resources in our communities and in California – when health centers get 340B discounts, all of the savings stay with the health center and its patients; when the state collects drug rebates, only about 1/3 of state drug rebate dollars stay in California, the rest must be shared with the federal government.
We urge the Administration to reconsider its efforts to eliminate use of the 340B program which will take a critical source of savings away from public health care systems and other safety net providers. At a time when our state is fiscally strong, it is even more imperative that we support our safety net by keeping these critically needed funds in our health centers and in our communities.
THE COMMUNITY CLINIC ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY (CCALAC) is the largest regional association of community clinics and health centers in California. Founded in 1994, CCALAC has 63 members that operate over 350 clinic sites throughout LA County. CCALAC is dedicated to serving and representing the interests of its member clinics as providers of quality health care, including medical, dental and pharmacy services. For more information about CCALAC, visit www.ccalac.org or call (213) 201-6500.
Contact:
Elaiza Torralba, Communications Specialist, (213) 201-6529
Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County
700 S. Flower Street, Suite 3150, Los Angeles, CA 90017