Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Allison Elsner, CEO for the San Bernardino County Medical Society. Thank you for being with us today, Allison.
Alison Elsner
Thank you so much for having me, Yvette.
Yvette
As part of the San Bernardino County Medical Society, what are some of the ways that you advocate for physicians and patients?
Alison
Sure, so our primary activity is advocacy for the physician workforce, as you mentioned, and that consists of MDs, NDOs, and part of that is to naturally advocate for access to care for our patient population. I'm with the Medical Society, as you mentioned, which is a component of the statewide California Medical Association, which has 50,000 physician members. So, we work hard here in the Inland Empire to ensure that our patients have access to care, and that is accomplished in large part by making sure that physicians can stay in practice and keep their doors open and remain viable to do what they do best.
Yvette
What are some of the major challenges and barriers you're facing today.
Alison
I think that certainly the concern over what's going to happen with Medicaid funding. I won't say cuts, because we don't know yet, but we do know that the House Energy and Commerce Committee has been instructed to find a way to cut $880 billion in the Medicaid program. Well, not in the Medicaid program, but that's really one of the only places that it can come from, which the budget analysts have told us. So, it's a huge concern for physicians and certainly for patients. But beyond that, it goes into the realm of the health care workforce, and that includes hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, oncology centers, school nurse programs, developmental disability programs. So, all these things form a safety net in our community that Medicaid, if it is cut, could very potentially limit the ability of patients to be treated. We also advocate for things like maintaining Medicare provider payments so that seniors can receive adequate treatment in our community. And we do advocate at the state level too, for things like prior authorization reform to make sure that patients can get treatments approved in a timely way, which is, of course, always a public safety concern.
Yvette
And so, as we know, the Latino population relies on Medicaid as well. What does that look like in California in terms of, you know, percentages or populations that rely on that, and what is the direct impact to the communities should massive cuts be made to Medicaid?
Alison
Well, certainly in California, that is one of the biggest concerns looming out there right now. We have about 1.6 million undocumented citizens in California who receive Medicaid coverage right now, which in California, as you know, is called Medi Cal, and that's out of a total of 15 million Californians who do receive medical (coverage), so it's about 10% the undocumented population comprises about 10% of those Medi Cal beneficiaries. It's important to know that of the 15 million folks in California that receive medical, that half of those are Latino, and so then, within that 15,000 10% are undocumented. But you know, the Medicaid threat is something that affects all of us. So, I think a lot of times people like to or it's easier, you know, for our brains to process something, if we can compartmentalize these things or segment them. But when you look at it, if you start cutting services to hospitals and clinics and staff for counseling programs and substance use disorder programs, then you're going to put a terrible burden on emergency rooms, because that will end up being used as primary care, and that affects every single person in our population in California.
Yvette
Is there a message you have for policy makers who are looking at ways to balance the budget and find ways to cut back, to scale back, and meet the numbers that they need to meet to be, you know, fiscally sustainable as a nation as well? What would you say to them when considering Medicaid?
Alison
Sure, well we certainly understand the situation. You know, we're facing a huge deficit in this country, and we are sympathetic to that. We agree THAT needs to be solved. But doing that on the backs of patients, especially many working families, low income population, children in cancer wards, seniors in skilled nursing facilities, those are not the people who we should put this burden on. My message is to, let's please get creative about not penalizing people for being low income.
Yvette
And for patients in the community that are listening to this segment that may still have questions, right? How can they connect with you? How can they connect with the San Bernardino County Medical Society and be a part of advocating alongside you?
AlisonOur website is sbcms.org and my name is Alison. I'm the CEO, and I'd love to talk with anyone who wants to reach out and get involved.
Yvette
Thank you, Allison.
Alison Elsner
Thank you so much for shedding a light on this.
Yvette Walker
Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/ielatinovoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from San Antonio Regional Hospital - Here for life. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
