Commentary
Congressional Republicans are searching for spending cuts to comply with their new budget blueprint, and California’s Medi-Cal program is a target. There is little doubt that the federal government can reduce its support for the state’s version of Medicaid without jeopardizing essential health care for poor Americans living in California.
The state’s Department of Health Care Services has a $193 billion budget for 2025-26 of which $119 billion is expected to come from the federal government. California is on track to claim more than one-sixth of all federal funds devoted to Medicaid (based on a Congressional Budget Office estimate of $656 billion in nationwide program costs for 2025) despite having only 12 percent of the national population….