A two-year cash influx or a long-term investment? Come November it will be up to California voters whether to lock billions of special tax dollars into Medi-Cal — the state’s health insurance program for low-income residents — or leave the decision up to lawmakers who might be tempted to use the money elsewhere.
The budget deal Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Saturday commits roughly $2 billion through 2026 to increase payments to some doctors and health providers who see Medi-Cal patients, encouraging them to accept more low-income patients. The deal relies on a special tax that health insurance companies pay.
But there’s a catch in the upcoming election, and it could undo some payment increases that are in the budget. Low-income families with young children are among the people who could lose out.
A ballot initiative supported by nearly the entire health care industry seeks to hold Newsom to a promise made last year to permanently secure that tax money for health care rather than letting future lawmakers use it to offset cuts to prisons, parks, roads and other services.
They say Newsom backtracked on their agreement when he put forward budget plans earlier this year to address the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit. The tax is expected to generate more than $35 billion over the next four years. The budget Newsom signed puts most of that money in the state’s general spending account.
But if voters pass the ballot initiative in November, they would effectively undo that part of the deal. Under the initiative, Medi-Cal would get more money, and a different but bigger group of doctors and providers would get higher rate increases than what is…
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