Calif Suspends Medicaid Payments to Dialysis Clinics

California has suspended Medicaid payments to more than 1,000 healthcare clinics, including dialysis centers, until a new state budget is signed into law, according to an Aug. 25 report in the Visalia Times-Delta.

According to the report, the Medi-Cal money due to the clinics will be paid once the budget is signed. In the meantime, however, they will have to dip into their own reserves in order to cover costs.

Schools and other county payments will also see delays in payment due to the budget impasse.

The budget is more than 50 days late as lawmakers are trying to figure out how to close a $19 billion gap between expenses and revenues. In addition to IOUs to services dependent on state money, Gov. Schwarzenegger has also order 144,000 state employees to take unpaid furloughs three days a month until a budget is agreed upon.