Health Care Rescue Package Still on Course, County Official Says
The promise of a $364-million rescue package to save Los Angeles County’s struggling health care system from collapse moved closer to reality Friday after two days of intense negotiations among federal, state and county officials in the nation’s capital.
County health czar Burt Margolin emerged from the talks sounding optimistic that the rescue package announced by President Clinton in September is on course, although thrown off schedule by the recent partial shutdown of the federal government.
“There are no stumbling blocks or impasses,” Margolin said. “I’m confident that the waiver will ultimately be approved.”
County and state officials are seeking a waiver of federal regulations to move the nation’s second-largest public health system from a costly emphasis on hospital treatment to a less expensive network of community-based, primary and preventive care.
California Health Services Director Kim Belshe, whose top deputy attended the Washington talks, said federal officials want the county to offer goals and a timetable for achieving changes in the health system.
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