Expanded health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act has allowed most of the approximately 1,000 patients formerly served by the county’s Medically Indigent Adult Services Program to qualify for MediCal or private plans, causing the state to rescind most of its funding for the program. Public Health has since instituted a new program for the 50 patients who still need the services; the Indigent Care Program, approved by the supervisors on 7/8, will operate with a $600,000 budget, saving about $3 million per year.
