Health Net of California to Issue Emergency Loans to Help Keep Safety-Net Health Clinics Open
“With no state budget in place, these essential health clinics will not receive their usual funding,” said Dave Meadows, Health Net’s vice president of State Health Programs. “We’re stepping in to help ensure people in the communities we serve have uninterrupted access to vital and indispensable health care services.”
According to David Quackenbush, chief executive officer of the Central Valley Health Network, temporary closure of clinics or reduction of hours of operation would create a void in the affected communities and potentially force thousands of Californians to go without care.
“Health Net didn’t hesitate to intervene and is doing the right thing for the Central Valley,” said Quackenbush. “Keeping our doors open means keeping communities healthy.”
Health Net’s emergency loan program builds on the company’s additional financial commitment to clinics begun last year, when it provided crucial loans to three clinics so they could meet expenses while their cash flow was cut off by the late state budget.
Linda Roberts, RN, owner/administrator of the Tipton and Pixley Medical Clinics in Tulare County, called last year’s financing a “godsend” that helped her stay open in 2007.
“Residents of the Central Valley depend on health clinics for their routine and urgent care,” said Luisa Medina of Central California Legal Services. “The closure of even one health clinic could be devastating to a community, and we applaud the extraordinary efforts to help keep doors open and patients being treated.”
About Health Net
Health Net of California, Inc., a subsidiary of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), is one of the largest health plans in the state. Together with Health Net Life Insurance Company, it serves nearly 2.3 million members statewide, and contracts with more than 56,000 physicians, 300-plus hospitals and nearly 5,000 pharmacies, giving its members greater choice and more convenient access to care. Its commercial HMO and POS lines of business and its Medicare line of business have received the “excellent” accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and its Medicaid line of business has received the “Commendable” accreditation status.
About Central Valley Health Network
The Central Valley Health Network is a consortium of 13 Federally Qualified Health Center corporations that provide comprehensive preventive primary care services and advocate on behalf of low-income and medically underserved families throughout the northern, Central Valley and Inland Empire areas of California. In most Central Valley communities, CVHN members are the only safety net provider.
Source:http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/health-care/
