In an LA Times article, Jennifer Kent, the director of California’s Medi-Cal program, speaks critically of the proposed legislation:
The Senate bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, “takes a sledgehammer to the improvements we have made in our state’s healthcare delivery system…. The long-term impact of this bill cannot be understated: It is simply devastating.”
According to the California Healthline, California would face the most considerable losses of any state. The article says, “Federal funding would drop by 26 percent over ten years, the report said. Many states, including Alabama, Georgia, Texas, and Florida, would face a drop of less than 10 percent.”
Medi-Cal’s annual budget is $107 billion, providing health coverage to 1 in 3 Californians. The LA Times report says that under the new Senate proposal, California would face increases of over $3 billion in costs in 2020 alone, and by 2027, estimated to reach approximately $30 billion in unanticipated costs.
Faced with such drastic funding cuts, Mari Cantwell told California Healthline;
“Nothing is safe—no population, no services. It is really disheartening and honestly horrifying to think about the world under this Senate bill and what it would mean.”
