SHERMAN OAKS, SEPTEMBER  20, 2007: Assemblymembers Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) and Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) appeared with representatives from the Grossman Burn Center today to urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign legislation protecting the financial viability of burn centers.

AB 1269, jointly authored by Assemblymembers Hernandez and Feuer, would address an inadequacy in worker’s compensation reimbursement rates for the treatment of serious burn victims. 

Because burn centers were left out of a 2003 Senate bill untying certain medical procedures from the Medicare inpatient hospital fee schedule, reimbursement rates remain insufficient to cover the costs of treatment for serious burn cases.  As a result, hospitals take a financial loss when they treat a serious burn victim.  This situation threatens the long term financial health of many of California’s burn centers.  To address this imbalance, AB 1269 would allow the Division of Workers’ Compensation to set higher reimbursement rates for the treatment of serious burn victims.

Assemblymember Mike Feuer said, “California’s burn centers provide a tremendous service to patients in need, but currently they lose money every time they provide care to the most serious cases.  AB 1269 will help burn centers stay in business so they can keep saving lives.”

“These burn centers are an integral part of our ability to react to a major disaster, including treating our first-responders – the brave men and women who are first on the scene during a crisis.  AB 1269 is the fiscally responsible way to ensure the continued operation of these critical burn treatment centers and protect the patients they care for,” stated Assemblymember Hernandez. 

Representing the Grossman Burn Center were Dr. Richard Grossman and Dr. Peter Grossman, Medical Directors for the Grossman Burn Center.  Representing the business community was Mr. Greg Lippe, Chair of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association’s Government Affairs Committee.