LVMC Advocates to Protect Central Coast Healthcare Safety Net

Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC) is joining regional healthcare partners in advocating against a proposed state budget change that could significantly impact healthcare access for thousands of Central Coast residents and place additional strain on local hospitals and emergency services.

The Governor’s May Budget Revision includes a proposal to transition nearly two million Medi-Cal members with unsatisfactory immigration status (UIS) from managed care plans into California’s Fee-for-Service (FFS) delivery system. Locally, CenCal Health currently serves approximately 230,000 members across Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, including 38,703 UIS community members. Among those are 4,501 children and 1,676 older adults.

“These are patients we care for every day,” said LVMC Chief Executive Office Yvette Cope. “They are our neighbors, workers, parents and grandparents. Maintaining access to coordinated healthcare services is critical for both patient outcomes and the long-term stability of our healthcare system.”

Cope joined with the Central Coast Health Coalition this week to warn state legislative leaders that moving these patients into the Fee-for-Service system could disrupt continuity of care, disconnect patients from primary care providers and increase reliance on emergency services.

Under the current managed care model through CenCal Health, patients receive coordinated primary care, specialty care access, complex case management and community health worker support.

“The Administration’s proposal would dismantle the coordinated care infrastructure on which UIS members rely and would replace it with a fragmented system characterized by limited care management, fewer provider options and significantly higher long-term costs,” Coalition members noted. “Rather than reducing expenditures, the Administration’s proposal would shift costs to more acute and expensive settings, thereby creating avoidable crises for families and greater financial pressure on counties, hospitals and community providers.”

According to state projections, the proposed transition could lead to a 16 percent increase in inpatient admissions and a 12 percent increase in emergency room utilization statewide. For LVMC, the change would likely result in increased emergency department volume, greater pressure on inpatient capacity and a rise in uncompensated care costs as patients seek treatment later and in more acute conditions, Cope noted.

In response, LVMC joined the Central Coast Health Coalition and other community partners in formally urging state legislators to reject the proposal and adopt an alternative approach developed by the Local Health Plans of California (LHPC). The alternative plan, which has been included in the Assembly’s budget proposal, would allow members to remain enrolled in CenCal Health for primary, specialty and outpatient care while the state manages federally sensitive services through the Fee-for-Service system.

The Coalition’s healthcare leaders say this approach would preserve care coordination, protect access to primary care services and still achieve most of the state’s projected cost savings.

“California can comply with federal guidance without dismantling the coordinated care system our community depends on,” Cope stated.

The Coalition membership includes more than two dozen healthcare facilities, organizations and advocates across the region, including CenCal Health, Cottage Health, the County of Santa Barbara, Family Service Agency, Dignity Health, Adventist Health and more.

LVMC officials emphasized that the issue impacts every aspect of healthcare delivery, from emergency services and clinics to specialty care and support departments. Protecting access to preventive and primary care, they say, is essential to reducing downstream strain on hospitals and ensuring patients receive timely treatment before conditions become emergencies.

“We recognize that the state is responding to federal guidance, but compliance does not require removing members from managed care,” the Coalition noted in its legislative letter. “We urge the Legislature to pursue the solution that preserve comprehensive, coordinated care for all populations, regardless of immigration status. California can meet the federal directive and achieve meaningful savings without reducing access to care for nearly two million Medi-Cal members, over 38,000 of whom reside in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.”

Cope said that LVMC will continue working alongside regional healthcare organizations and legislators throughout the state budget process to advocate for patients and preserve healthcare stability on the Central Coast.