Central Los Angeles : Fund Cuts Hit Drug Treatment Program

You could say Delilah Corona represents the bottom line of the state health care crisis.

A drug abuser for seven years, Corona thought she finally had found a treatment program that worked for her. But an obscure change in Medi-Cal rules has bounced her and other mothers from coverage for drug counseling and treatment.

As of today, the Esperanza Project clinic on Garfield Avenue in Commerce will close, and women such as Corona are in jeopardy of losing their treatment.

The cutbacks result from an Assembly bill, passed as part of a state budget package in August, that limited coverage for perinatal programs such as those offered by Esperanza. As of today, only pregnant women and mothers with children up to 2 months old are eligible for Medi-Cal reimbursement; previously, mothers with children of any age could get treatment.

“I don’t think they really understand what they’re doing,” said Corona, who fears a relapse without Esperanza. “They’re not going to understand until they see the effects. There’s going to be a lot of [relapsed] people out on the street.”

County health officials are scrambling to piece together replacement funding that would let them serve women who have lost eligibility, but the prospects are slim, said Irene Lopez, director of the Esperanza Project.

“The reality is, fiscally we can’t afford to stay here,” said Lopez.

Esperanza will try to serve as many women as it can through its Indiana Street clinic in East Los Angeles but already has had to drop 15 clients, according to Lopez