Prospector

Issue date: 5/16/03 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: John Saiz

The scene opens to a young woman in her early 20's, dropping off her prescriptions at the pharmacy. It's business as usual and she plans to pick them up the next day. However, when she returns to pick up the medications, the pharmacy clerk informs her that her insurance provider doesn't have her listed as having prescription coverage, so the young woman leaves and then calls her insurance provider.

After several rounds of phone tag and mounted frustration, the young woman speaks to the provider and is told that there has been a mistake and that she is, indeed, covered for prescriptions. The woman returns to the pharmacy to inform them of this, but alas, the computer system is still listing her as uncovered.

Again, the woman contacts the provider, and is told there is no error, returns to the pharmacy. This sequence repeats about 5 more times, several days pass and turn into weeks and the woman is still without her medication. This situation is reminiscent of a comedy sketch; however, it's not a laughing matter. The woman's insurance provider is the state of California.

This woman, along with many other California residents is "insured" by the County Medical Services Program (CMSP). According the CMSP homepage the program is intended "to provide medical and dental care to medically indigent adults (MIAs) aged 21-64 who are of marginal income and who are not eligible for the State's Medi-Cal Program."
Having an alternative such as this is a great asset to many people, and provides the opportunity for those who cannot afford health insurance to be able to go to the doctor and dentist. This program worked well for many people until a major change was made and now many people are having difficulties getting their prescriptions.

As of April 1, 2003, the CMSP system was transferred to an internet-only accessed system that allows pharmacies and doctors' offices to run the identification numbers of the cardholder in order to receive payment from the state for the services rendered. However, there have been so many errors with the system that many people have been unable to pick up their glasses at an optometrist's office, or prescriptions at a pharmacy.

The glitches with the new CMSP system are only the surface of problems people have met with the state healthcare system. Many outside opinions on the subject may hold the thought of "They're lucky to get what they get." It's true that many people that are able to get state aid are fortunate to have the opportunity to have health coverage at the expense of the state; however, for many of those recipients they have no other means. By saying that these people who receive state-funded healthcare should be "happy with what they get," then it's almost like saying that unless you have a lot of money, then you don't deserve quality healthcare.

Continued...

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