Rally Calls On UC Davis To Reinstate Primary Care For Medi-Cal Patients

University of California Davis Medical Group is facing criticism for not providing primary care to Medi-Cal patients. Health advocates are holding a rally in Sacramento Monday morning to call attention to the issue.

UC Davis ended a contract with a Medi-Cal insurance contractor Health Net in 2015, which forced thousands of patients to look elsewhere for primary care.

Building Better Communities Director Kim Williams says other area hospitals have found ways to keep providing primary care in spite of Medi-Cal's low reimbursement rates.

"Our concern is how do we make sure that UC Davis can step up to the plate to do its part like the other hospital systems have been doing,” Williams says.

But UC Davis Spokesman Charles Casey says the hospital serves patients in ways other than primary care.

He says more than a third of the hospital's admissions are Medi-Cal recipients.

"We are really doing our fair share for Medi-Cal patients,” Casey says. “We always want to do more. And we will. And we anticipate as contracts come and go and change, we will do more, even in the primary care realm."

Casey says the med center's outpatient clinics saw 100,000 Medi-Cal patients last year.