California lawmakers are raising questions about the governor’s commitment to implementing the proposed Medi-Cal expansion under the federal health law.
At a budget hearing Wednesday, Assembly members probed state health leaders about the two options laid out in the Governor’s spending plan – either a county-based or a state-based expansion. In either scenario, the administration wants to reexamine which level of government is responsibility for which services.
But Assemblymember Holly Mitchell said it doesn’t make sense to look into that now.
“A primary concern is the time that we’re spending figuring out how to do it, could potentially slow down the process and potentially derail it when it really isn’t necessarily," said Mitchell. "Because we’ve got the cover. The federal government has our back on this."
Brown’s administration said the state is committed to expanding Medi-Cal, but it has to be implemented in a financially sustainable way.
Two Medi-Cal expansion bills will be up for floor votes in both houses of the legislature Thursday.
