Medicare/Medicaid Dual Eligibility and Managed Care – California

State takes step to shift some of poorest, sickest to managed care, By Anna Gorman, April 5, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “California is beginning the process of shifting 1.1 million of the state’s sickest and poorest patients into managed care, which healthcare officials say will cut costs and improve treatment. The move is part of a broader state plan to continue moving residents with publicly funded health coverage into managed care, prompting concerns among critics who fear that patients could lose their current doctors. State officials announced Wednesday that Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and San Mateo will be the first counties to provide managed care to the patients, who are enrolled in both the federally run Medicare and the state-federal Medi-Cal program…”