County Medical Assn. Supports Health ‘Equity Funding’ by State

The Orange County Medical Assn. fully supports your May 19 editorial, “The Time Is Right to Fix a Serious Wrong,” urging Orange County to seize the opportunity to achieve “equity funding” as part of Gov. Wilson’s proposed realignment of health programs from the state to counties.

A moral imperative exists for Orange County to gain equity funding to address the longstanding disparities between counties which have contributed to chronic access to care problems for the medically uninsured and underinsured.

OCMA believes that gaining equity funding is only the initial challenge facing our community. Equity funds could permit us to address the funding shortfalls which have plagued our local programs.

If equity is realized, we must capitalize on the historic opportunity to restore our indigent care programs to fully funded levels. Failing that, access to primary care for the indigent, underinsured or uninsured will be denied.

Ironically, our failure to properly utilize such equity funds will force employers and employees with health insurance to continue to subsidize the care for those who have fallen through the local safety net.

Currently, the average insured citizen pays inflated insurance premiums to absorb the costs of uncompensated care for those who cannot pay. This hidden tax can be reduced by devoting new equity to our local primary care safety net.

MELVYN L. STERLING, M.D., Chairman, OCMA Access to Care Committee