California governor prepares implementation of Obama health care bill
While falsely trumpeting the commitment of state funds to provide limited medical coverage for families living in poverty, California Governor Jerry Brown and the ruling establishment are building the case for cuts to Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid welfare program) in the coming years.
Under the ACA, California would have the option of extending medical benefits to families living at between 100 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty line, abysmally set at about $22,000 per year for a family of four. The federal government would subsidize the additional cost for the first three years, then scale down its subsidy to 90 percent of such cost by 2020.
At its core, the ACA is aimed at a further privatization and gutting of the health care for ordinary Americans, concealed behind an adequate extension of benefits to poor and working class families.
Medi-Cal serves nearly 9 million people, almost one in four California residents, who depend on the program for access to any kind of health service. The expansion being currently discussed would bring in 1.2 million new enrollees by 2017. While Governor Brown, a Democrat, touts the expansion of Medi-Cal coverage for this layer, the state has the option of withdrawing such coverage at any time. Brown has already made clear that the long-term costs for implementing the coverage are unknown and may undermine California’s precarious budget. There is also the possibility that the federal government may shift costs to the state.
In the next few years, federal support for Medi-Cal will run out, while health care costs will continue to grow rapidly. Given that state funding for medical benefit programs will remain optional, it is reasonable to assume that the option of reducing payments will be exercised. Republican Governor Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, for instance, has already “opted out” of the expanded Medicaid payments, a decision that will leave between 482,000 and 683,000 adults uninsured.
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