California -- 6.6 Million without coverage. Another 1.9 Million losing coverage. 12 percent of home loans delinquent. Thank god for those Monster Pensions.
Updated June 1, 2009
MORE THAN 1.9 MILLION CALIFORNIANS COULD LOSE ACCESS
TO HEALTH COVERAGE UNDER THE GOVERNOR’S MAY REVISION
At a time when the federal government is seeking ways to expand health coverage to more Americans, Governor
Schwarzenegger has proposed substantial cuts that could result in more than 1.9 million Californians losing access to
health coverage within three years.
1 In addition, these cuts would cause California to lose an estimated $2.3 billion in
federal matching funds in 2009-10 alone.
Specifically:
• The Governor proposes to reduce state funding for the Medi-Cal Program by $1.0 billion in 2009-10 through
unspecified changes that would likely include limits on eligibility for Medi-Cal services. The Administration
would need permission from the federal government to make eligibility cuts, due to provisions in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). In the past year, the Governor has proposed three eligibility
changes that could cause nearly 1 million Californians to lose access to health coverage (see table). While the
Legislature previously rejected these proposals, all three could be included in the Administration’s proposed $1.0
billion reduction – a cut that would cause the state to lose an estimated $1.6 billion in federal funds in 2009-10
under ARRA’s enhanced matching rate of 61.59 percent.
• The Governor also released, on May 26, a proposal to eliminate the Healthy Families Program as of August 1,
2009. Previously, the Governor proposed dropping 225,000 children from the program. If Healthy Families were
eliminated, 942,000 California children who would otherwise have been covered as of June 30, 2010 – the end
of the 2009-10 fiscal year – would not be covered, according to the most recent state estimate available, which
likely understates the number of children affected. Eliminating the program would reduce General Fund spending
by $369 million in 2009-10, but California would also lose approximately $685 million in federal matching funds.
More Than 1.9 Million Californians Could Lose Access to Health Coverage Under the Governor’s May Revision
Potential Cut Number of Californians Affected
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