Thousands of low-income patients are seeking new medical providers after a long-standing contract between UCLA Health and Health Care LA expired on 30 June. Under the agreement, UCLA provided specialty care to 9,000 medically frail patients from the nonprofit association, which serves those covered by Medi-Cal.

The patients utilised UCLA for services including cancer and infectious-disease treatments, high-risk women’s services, and major organ transplants. Health Care LA stated that many patients had been waiting months for specialty medicine providers and were being told they could not receive necessary care.

A planned news conference regarding the issue was cancelled after both organisations reached a tentative agreement to transition patients to other doctors over the next year. Phil Hampton, a UCLA spokesman, stated that established patients, those with existing appointments, and those requiring agreed-upon services will continue to be treated at UCLA facilities. He noted that accepting unlimited new referrals is difficult due to capacity constraints.

Sabra Matovsky, chief executive of Health Care LA, said UCLA declined to renegotiate. She stated that university officials cited capacity issues at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Matovsky said:

“To solve this by pushing out Medi-Cal patients while you continue to expand and market and take on other patients is not a solution.”

Hampton said UCLA offered to extend the contract but Health Care LA rejected the offer. He defended the university's position, noting that UCLA Health relies on patient care revenue to fund operations and that Medi-Cal reimbursement has not kept pace with the cost of providing care. He added that the health system provides more than $270 million in unreimbursed care for low-income patients annually.

University statistics show that last year, Medi-Cal accounted for approximately 15% of UCLA Health’s net patient service revenue, compared to approximately 22% for UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, and UC Davis.