California Gov. Schwarzenegger Proposes $101B Budget That Includes Medi-Cal Cuts

No tax increase, but very little Medi-Cal and physicians who will take Medi-Cal patients...BD

The proposed budget would reduce by 10% Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for physicians and hospitals, which are already among the lowest in the nation. In addition, two-thirds of Healthy Families beneficiaries would pay higher premiums under the proposal. Healthy Families is the state's version of SCHIP (Los Angeles Times, 1/11). The budget plan also calls for eliminating some Medi-Cal services, including most dental services for the three million adult Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and includes cuts to HIV/AIDS drug assistance and prevention programs.

Under the proposed spending plan, funding for Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, would be reduced by about $1 billion to $13.6 billion (Mendel, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/11). However, according to the Mercury News, actual Medi-Cal funding losses could be closer to $2 billion because the federal government matches state funds for the program (San Jose Mercury News, 1/11).