A judge has ruled that California's Sacramento County must pay for the medical care UC Davis Medical Center provided indigent residents from mid-2008, which is estimated to total at least tens of millions of dollars, according to a Sacramento Business Journal report.
The decision puts an end to years of conflict over Sacramento County's decision to halt reimbursements for care, mostly for emergency medical services, given under the county's Medically Indigent Services Program.
Sacramento County had decided to ditch the long-term contract with UC Davis and strike a less-expensive deal with another company in July 2008. When that deal didn't pan out, UC Davis continued to provide care for the county's patients, even after the county had stopped paying the hospital system.
The ruling by Judge Lloyd Connelly established that the county has contractual and legal obligations to pay UC Davis for the care it provides to indigent patients, even if there is no contract in place between the county and the health system.
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The decision puts an end to years of conflict over Sacramento County's decision to halt reimbursements for care, mostly for emergency medical services, given under the county's Medically Indigent Services Program.
Sacramento County had decided to ditch the long-term contract with UC Davis and strike a less-expensive deal with another company in July 2008. When that deal didn't pan out, UC Davis continued to provide care for the county's patients, even after the county had stopped paying the hospital system.
The ruling by Judge Lloyd Connelly established that the county has contractual and legal obligations to pay UC Davis for the care it provides to indigent patients, even if there is no contract in place between the county and the health system.
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