Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) proposed
fiscal year 2015-2016 budget allocates about $300 million for high-cost drugs, including expensive medication to treat hepatitis C, Capital Public Radio's "
KXJZ News" reports (Bartolone, "KXJZ News," Capital Public Radio, 1/12).
Last week, Brown released his $113.3 billion FY 2015-2016 budget proposal.
According to the
budget, Medi-Cal will account for two-thirds of overall health and human
services spending in the coming fiscal year. Medi-Cal is California's
Medicaid program.
Rena Fox, a physician at UC-San Francisco, applauded the budget proposal
for including money to help make hepatitis C treatments available to
patients. Fox said, "The cost of the drugs is now making them
unattainable for the majority of patients" ("KXJZ News," Capital Public
Radio, 1/12).
Labels: California, Medi-Cal funding