U.S. District Court Judge, Christina Snyder has granted the California Hospital Association’s (CHA) motion for a preliminary injunction. This halts the implementation of the CA state rate cut to our skilled nursing facilities that would have amounted to a $1 million per year hit to our hospital. Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, the law firm representing CHA in their case against the state of California and federal Health and Human Services, praised EPHC for its efforts, stating that “Tom’s [Hayes’] declaration was cited, and Plumas County was used as an example,” in the judge’s Order. They also said to “let the beneficiaries [skilled nursing facility patients who acted as plaintiffs in the motion for a preliminary injunction] know that even if their declarations were not directly cited, they definitely contributed.”

CHA’s case argued that these Medi-Cal reimbursement cuts “would cause irreparable harm and lead to additional facility closures and reductions of service.”

CHA said that they “anticipate the state will appeal the judge’s decision and pursue efforts to put the cuts in place,” and that CHA will continue to fight to make sure these cuts don’t happen.

EPHC will continue to monitor the situation closely and inform our staff and the community as we receive further information on this case.