By Joel L. Strom, Sep 12, 2015 Daily News
But this one is different. The winners from a $15 minimum wage may also be the eventual losers. How so?
The mayor’s move will almost surely harm some of the more than eight million Californians who are currently enrolled in Denti-Cal, the dental plan that accompanies Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. As a dentist working in the L.A. metro area, I can safely say this program is predicated on an economic model that will be increasingly non-viable under a higher minimum wage.
Before understanding how the a dramatic minimum wage hike will harm health care, we must first understand the flaws that are already present in the Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal programs. Doctors who serve lower-income patients report that rising overhead costs, combined with the state’s abysmal reimbursement rates that are roughly 35 percent of the national average, are making it increasingly difficult to keep their doors open. Yet state law precludes them from passing along these higher costs to their patients.
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