California faces a $6.2 billion budget gap in the state’s Medicaid services, which could force Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrat lawmakers to reevaluate future coverage for some of the 15 million people who receive healthcare through the program, including immigrants.
The shortfall comes a year after California launched an ambitious coverage expansion to provide free healthcare to all low-income adults regardless of their immigration status. That’s costing far more than the state projected.
California also is bracing for major budget hits if Republicans in Congress follow through with a plan to slash billions of dollars in Medicaid and potentially jeopardize coverage for millions of people. California provides free health care to more than a third of its 39 million people.
Here’s what to know about California’s Medicaid gap:
Partly. California first extended healthcare benefits to low-income children without legal status in 2015 and later added the benefits for young adults and people over the age of 50. The program was expanded again last year to cover adults ages 26 to 49.
The cost of the recent expansion to cover all low-income adults is $2.7 billion more than the state budgeted because California underestimated the number of people who would sign up for services. California officials said they only had a month of data last year when the state had to produce projections for the budget.