Vital Repair Mission

An important section of the legislation expanding state financing for the care of the medically indigent was dropped through drafting error somewhere between the Legislature’s conference committee and the chamber floors. So the final bill signed by Gov. George Deukmejian lacked rules defining eligibility. That needs fixing.

The Assembly has already adopted bills to repair the damage, and the Senate, in the coming week, has scheduled action. That prompt response is welcome. But some who are not persuaded about the merit of this legislation are trying to stall the repair mission. That is regrettable, for the eligibility regulation expired this year, risking a deterioration of services to many poor people.

Eligibility was defined as part of the reorganization of state medical services three years ago. The language is similar to that used by many other states. It requires that agencies such as county hospitals that receive state funds make available their services to those who meet the Medi-Cal standards but have not been ruled eligible for Medi-Cal. The group includes a variety of poor people between 21 and 65, among them those who are not disabled, those without dependent children, working couples, the homeless and the so-called displaced homemakers--older women forced onto the job market at extremely low wages.

Among the opponents of the eligibility rule is Los Angeles County, which argues that it could impose a heavy administrative burden in terms of record-keeping. That seems to us to be a misreading of the bill. The problem has not arisen until now, and any future bureaucratic abuses could be addressed promptly. In the meantime, however, the abandonment of this regulation denies the poor a remedy for improper denial of services. Furthermore, the abandonment of the eligibility definition could encourage the counties, and Los Angeles County is not one of them, that are already skirting the provisions of the law with unfair eligibility practices.