After hundreds of California ACEP members contacted Governor Newsom and state legislators, a long-overdue increase to Medi-Cal reimbursement rates was included in the state’s budget.
Starting in 2025, $200 million will be devoted annually to increase reimbursement rates to emergency physicians. The increase will move reimbursement rates from between 55-60% of Medicare reimbursement to 80%.
Medi-Cal reimbursement rates have not increased in 20 years, until now. California ACEP advocacy led to emergency medicine being the only physician specialty specifically delineated in the budget bill.
“We are thrilled that these changes will improve access to care for Medi-Cal recipients,” said Valerie Norton, MD, FACEP, president of CalACEP. “The long overdue increase should significantly impact emergency physicians who serve a high proportion of vulnerable patients—this is a stunning success.”
There will be other increases to Medi-Cal, including an annual appropriation of $1.38 billion for primary care rate increases, $1.15 billion for specialty care rate increases, $500 million for hospital emergency department reimbursement, at least $500 million for family planning and reproductive health care, and $600 million for behavioral health facilities, including some for new inpatient psychiatric beds.
Read more about ACEP state chapter advocacy.
