Hospitals will be prohibited from denying anesthesia to women during childbirth based on their ability to pay, under a bill signed Sunday by Gov. Pete Wilson.
The bill stems from a case involving a Medi-Cal insurance patient who was denied an epidural while in labor at Northridge Hospital Medical Center in the summer of 1997. An anesthesiologist had demanded that she pay $400 cash for the pain-control procedure--an amount that she could not muster.
Northridge later was cited for breaking six state regulations and ordered to give refunds to as many as 300 women. The state also accused five other Southern California hospitals of demanding cash for the anesthesia although Medi-Cal covers the epidurals.
"It is unconscionable for physicians to withhold pain medication from women in labor simply because their care is covered by Medi-Cal," Wilson said in a statement. "Women entitled to Medi-Cal benefits should receive the same standard of care as women enrolled in private health care plans."
