Fees for medical-pot cards to spike

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/health/16695098.htm
Fees for medical-pot cards to spike
PROGRAM FINDS FEW TAKERS STATEWIDE
By Truong Phuoc Khánh
Mercury News

So few people signed up for California's medical
marijuana cards that the state is now being
forced to raise fees tenfold to cover the cost of
running the program.

The Medical Marijuana ID Card Program was meant
to make life easier for the thousands who smoke
marijuana for medicinal purposes, which is legal
under California law. The state-issued photo ID
cards, which are more likely than a doctor's note
to be accepted by skeptical law enforcement
officials, were designed to keep patients from
being hassled or arrested.

But the program faced several challenges during
its roll-out during the past year: Only 24 of the
state's 58 counties have signed up to issue the
cards; there is competition from private cannibis
clubs with their own ID cards; and some folks
simply don't want to tell the government they're
smoking marijuana.

The state has informed counties that March 1, its
portion of the fees collected will increase from
$13 to $142 a card. Medi-Cal patients would pay
half of that. Each county charges a fee on top of
that to process applications and verify
physicians' prescriptions.

Counties that participate -- including Santa
Clara, Alameda and San Mateo -- will be meeting
in coming weeks to consider the increases. A card
that costs about $50 or $60 now is estimated to
increase to about $200. Under one proposal to be
considered by the Santa Clara County Health and
Hospital Committee today, the fee could rise to
$600 a card a year.

``I think it will kill the program,'' said Dale
Gieringer, the California executive director for
the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws. ``I can't see many patients
putting out $200 a year for those cards.''

State health officials had predicted 150,000
cards would be issued annually and set fees at
$13 a card to cover the costs of the program.
Medi-Cal patients paid half-price. Eighteen
months later, however, the state has issued only
9,076 cards, leaving it far short of its revenue
projections.

By law, the program has to be fully funded by user fees.

``The numbers don't add up,'' said Michelle
Mussuto, spokeswoman with the state Department of
Health Services. ``The original estimates weren't
what we thought they were going to be. We're
trying to remedy the situation.''

The numbers didn't add up in Santa Clara County, either.

The state had estimated Santa Clara County would
have 6,900 patients and caregivers signing up for
the card; in reality, the county has averaged
just 24 clients a month since starting its
program in March 2006.

San Mateo County, originally estimated to enroll
3,000 patients a year, issued 510 cards in 2006.
Alameda County has issued 945.

The fee increase is worrisome, said Pam Willow,
management analyst with the Alameda County Public
Health Department. ``We're very concerned about
what happens March 1. It's going to have a very
negative effect on the program.''

Angel Raich of Oakland, who was the first person
to sign up for the state card when it became
available in Alameda County, called the fee
increase ``shameful.''

``I see a boycott,'' said Raich, noting that
patients already pay about $200 a year for a
doctor's consultation to obtain the cannabis
prescription, which is not covered by health
insurance. ``If the state wants to make the
system work, they need to make it affordable.''

Voters in 1996 made California the first state to
legalize the use of medical marijuana with a
doctor's recommendation. However, the U.S.
Supreme Court in 2005 ruled that medical
marijuana patients can be prosecuted by the
federal government, even in California.

Raich, 41, who suffers from a life-threatening
wasting syndrome, chronic pain and a seizure
disorder, uses marijuana on her doctor's advice
to ease her pain. She is the plaintiff in a
landmark medicinal marijuana case that probably
will reach the U.S. Supreme Court. At issue is
whether Reich and others have a fundamental right
to pain relief.
Contact Truong Phuoc Khánh at tkhanh [at] mercurynews.com or (408) 920-2729.