The proposed U.S. Senate health care bill could add $114.6 billion to the cost to Medi-Cal in California, potentially leading to dramatic changes to the program that provides health services to nearly half the people in the central San Joaquin Valley, officials said Wednesday.
“Under this bill, we’d be faced with very difficult choices of how to operate the Medi-Cal program going forward,” said Mari Cantwell, the state’s director for the program.
Senators have postponed voting on the bill until after the Fourth of July recess. The bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would pay states a fixed amount for Medicaid, rather than reimbursing them for a share of expenses.
On Wednesday, the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California and a coalition of health care advocates held a news conference in northwest Fresno to discuss the Senate bill and their concerns about the potential for millions to lose health care coverage in the Valley.
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