California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation to close a $2.8 billion Medicaid funding gap despite Republicans in his state pushing back.
On Monday, Newsom signed legislation to close the budget gap in the state’s Medicaid services to ensure coverage for 15 million people through June. It’s part of California’s plan to fix the $6.2 billion gap in the state’s Medicaid budget after the state launched an expansion to give all low-income adults coverage regardless of their immigration status, The Associated Press reported.
The AP noted that the expansion is already costing more than was initially projected and could force Newsom and other Democrats to reevaluate.
State Rep. Carl DeMaio (R) said in a post online that he was officially requesting an investigation into the “Medi-Cal scandal.” Medi-Cal is the name of the state’s Medicaid program.
“He’s bankrupted the program by giving $10B in free healthcare to illegal immigrants—and there’s strong evidence he illegally tried to get federal Medicaid reimbursements,” DeMaio said on the social platform X.
State Sen. Brian Jones (R) also slammed Democrats and Newsom’s plan, criticizing the fact that the funding goes to anyone in the state, no matter their immigration status.
“Meanwhile, healthcare access is plummeting. Wait times are growing. Democrats have made their choice: legal residents come second,” Jones said on X. “We must stop new enrollments of illegal immigrants and reign in this unsustainable program before it collapses entirely.”
The reason the funding has exceeded the levels originally budgeted is because the state underestimated the number of people who would sign up for Medicaid services, though the state hasn’t disclosed how many people have enrolled via the expansion, the AP reported.
In 2024, the state projected that as many as 700,000 state residents who are illegally in the U.S. could receive coverage from the program.
The plan is seen as one of the state’s most ambitious coverage expansions in recent years. It was originally projected to cost the state about $3.1 billion and was a way for Democrats to move closer to providing Californians with universal health care.
While Republicans in the state have criticized Newsom’s coverage of immigrants in the plan, he said scaling it back is “not on my docket.” Still, other Democrats caution there are tough choices ahead, the AP noted.
