How long would you wait to treat a dangerous, painful staph infection? A day? A week? Jocelyn Lopez of Desert Hot Springs faced a wait of more than a month for care – just because she’s covered by Medi-Cal.

Jocelyn’s staph infection was intensely painful, itchy, and even caused bleeding. Jocelyn knew she needed treatment right away, but her primary care provider told her the next appointment would be four to six weeks out.

Jocelyn was in too much pain to wait. Instead, she took herself to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with a staph infection and given antibiotics. By the time her primary care appointment finally came, the antibiotics had worked and the infection was gone.

For Californians like Jocelyn, low Medi-Cal reimbursement rates mean longer waits for necessary care, forcing them to use emergency rooms for basic healthcare – and that means higher healthcare costs for all of us.

Raising reimbursement rates will allow more healthcare providers to accept new Medi-Cal patients, increase access, shorten wait times, and reduce costs.