Yesterday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the injunctive relief granted last January that halted the 10% Medi-Cal provider rate cut that included most physician services. A  coalition led by the Ca. Medical Assoc. obtained an injunction to halt the 10% provider rate reduction that was supposed to begin on 6/1/11.

The ruling by a three judge panel distinguished  previous precedents in other decisions by the Ninth Circuit that had halted cuts to hospital payments. It also concluded that since CMS had approved the reductions that they would give deference to their judgment.  There are discussions now with  coalition members on legal strategies. An appeal will likely be filed and we would not expect any immediate action by DHCS to reduce payments. We will keep you informed on next steps.

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