Thread: California lawmakers propose health coverage for immigrants

California lawmakers propose health coverage for immigrants

• By JONATHAN J. COOPER, ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dec 14, 2017, 12:49 PM ET

The Associated Press

Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, presents the Assembly's budget proposal in his office at the state Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. California Assembly Democrats say they want to use the windfall from a growing economy to expand a tax credit for the working poor and extend health coverage to immigrants living in the country illegally. (AP Photo/Jonathan J. Cooper)more +

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California, flush with cash from an expanding economy, would eventually spend $1 billion a year to provide health care to immigrants living in the state illegally under a proposal announced Wednesday by Democratic lawmakers.

The proposal would eliminate legal residency requirements in California's Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, as the state has already done for young people up to age 19.

It's part of $4.3 billion in new spending proposed by Assemblyman Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat who leads the budget committee. Assembly Democrats also want to expand a tax credit for the working poor, boost preschool and child care, and increase college scholarships to reduce reliance on student loans.
They also would commit $3.2 billion more than required to state budget reserves.

The proposal marks the Assembly's opening volley in six months of budget negotiations with the Senate and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has been reluctant to commit to new ongoing spending on social services.
California has significantly reduced its rate of uninsured people since former President Barack Obama's health care law took effect, but about 7 percent of residents still lack coverage. Many are people living in the country illegally, who are ineligible for U.S.-funded health care assistance.

While federal funds cover at least half — and as much 95 percent — of the cost for citizens and legal U.S. residents on Medi-Cal, the state would have to pick up the cost on its own for people living here illegally.
Expanding access to health care has been a contentious issue for California lawmakers, who targeted last year by protests from liberal activists who want the Legislature to provide state-funded coverage to everyone, regardless of immigration status.

A measure promoting that principle was sidelined when Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said it lacked specifics, including a plan for the $400 billion it would cost.

The Assembly's latest proposal is narrower, only extending the state Medicaid program to all low-income adults.

Brown, who is often more conservative in his own revenue forecast, will release his budget proposal next month.

H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the Department of Finance, said Brown wants to boost state reserves and avoid committing to unsustainable spending.

"We want to be able to provide as much budgetary protection as we can to protect or insulate the state from the potential effects of a downturn in the state's fiscal fortunes," Palmer said.

Ting, the head of the Assembly budget committee, said lawmakers were exploring ways to restructure the state tax code if Congress approves a proposed U.S. tax overhaul. California leaders have warned that the measure could harm taxpayers by restricting a federal deduction for state and local taxes, which is especially lucrative in high-tax states like California.

"I'm very concerned that this tax cut is a tax increase for middle-class and working-class Californians," Ting said. "So we are looking at ways that we can help mitigate that."

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/california-lawmakers-propose-health-coverage-immigrants-51793302

California lawmakers propose health coverage for immigrants

Hmm, we're missing a word here. Can anyone guess what it is?

Medicaid is partially funded by the federal government and illegal aliens are prohibited from receiving taxpayer funded benefits.

So How is this possible?

California, flush with cash from an expanding economy, would eventually spend $1 billion a year to provide health care to immigrants living in the state illegally under a proposal announced Wednesday by Democratic lawmakers.

If this insane state is so 'flush with cash' why are are roads among the worst in the nation? Oh, that's right, they are trying to get us on buses, bicycles and mass transit. Craziness here!

Stop States aiding and abetting ILLGAL ALIENS!

NO HEALTHCARE, NO BENEFITS, NO SCHOOL, NO WELFARE AND NO FOOD STAMPS!

WHAT ABOUT HEALTHCARE, HOUSING AND JOBS FOR THE MILLIONS OF HOMELESS U.S. CITIZENS?

Originally Posted by lorrie

Medicaid is partially funded by the federal government and illegal aliens are prohibited from receiving taxpayer funded benefits.

So How is this possible?

I guess it's the state Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal.

Originally Posted by lorrie

Medicaid is partially funded by the federal government and illegal aliens are prohibited from receiving taxpayer funded benefits.

So How is this possible?

They cheat and pay for the illegals with state funds while the federal/state programs cover their anchor babies.

It's disgusting.

Originally Posted by MW

I guess it's the state Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal.

Come on MW, we all know the state gets a big fat check from the feds and the state uses the money
for what ever purpose they choose.

Like Jean mentioned in the prior post, the state gets the federal funding for infrastructure and transportation but
does not use the money for what it was allocated for.

California freeways have not been updated, repaired or modernized since pre ww2

California Seismic Retrofit Program

June 2014

There are more than 12,000 bridges in the California State Highway system.

After the 1971 Sylmar earthquake struck the Los Angeles area and damaged several bridges, the California Department of Transportation (Department) initiated a bridge seismic safety retrofit program focused on bridge expansion joints.

The mid-span hinge and support joint retrofit program was completed in 1989 at a cost of $55 million. With the significant loss of life and closure of major routes caused by bridge failure during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Department established the current Seismic Retrofit Programs.

The current Seismic Retrofit Programs have been focused on identifying and retrofitting existing bridges statewide, bringing them up to the latest seismic safety retrofit standards established to prevent collapse during future earthquakes.

• After the Loma Prieta earthquake, the Department initially identified 1,039 state highway bridges (mostly single-column bridges) in need of being retrofitted to meet seismic safety standards, called the Phase 1 Program.
• After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the Department identified another 1,155 state-owned bridges (mostly multi-column bridges) in need of being retrofitted, called the Phase 2 Program.
• Senate Bills 60 and 226 established the Toll Bridge Program and provided initial retrofit funding. Assembly Bills 1171, 144 and 1175 established current funding levels for the nine bridges in the Toll Bridge program.

The state's bridge earthquake strengthening program involves more than 2,200 structures, and costs more than $12 billion.

A breakdown of the number of bridges and program costs is as follows:

SEISMIC RETROFIT PROGRAMS	Bridges	Completed	Percent	Cost (millions)	Expended (millions)	Percent
Phase 1 Program	1,039	1,039	100.0%	$ 1,082	$ 1,082	100.0%
Phase 2 Program	1,155	1,154	99.9%	$ 1,745	$ 1,501	86.0%
Toll Bridge Program (May 2014)	9	9	100.0%	$ 9,435	$ 8,198	86.9%
TOTAL	2,203	2,202	99.9%	$12,262	$10,781	87.9%

Funding for the seismic retrofit programs comes from several sources as shown below:

Program Funds*	Phase 1 Budget (millions)	Phase 2 Budget (millions)	Toll Bridge Budget (millions)	Total (millions)
Prop 192	$ 0	$1,210	$ 790	$ 2,000
SHA/HBRR	$1,082	$ 535	$2,265	$ 3,882
Tolls	$ 0	$ 0	$6,002	$ 6,002
Misc Funds	$ 0	$ 0	$ 378	$ 378
TOTAL	$1,082	$1,745	$9,435	$12,262

Status of Seismic Safety opening of the remaining bridge is listed below

Phase 2 Program	Status	Completion
Schuyler Heim - Long Beach	under construction	2016
Seismic Safety of Toll Bridges is complete. Status of SFOBB East Span demolition listed below
Toll Bridge Program	Status	Completion
SFOBB East Span	demolition	2018

Program Funds*
Prop 192 – proposition 192 passed by voters in November 1996.
SHA/HBRR – state (State Highway Account) and federal (Federal Trust Fund) gas tax programs. Tolls – Bay Area Toll Authority toll revenues. Misc Funds – Motor Vehicle Account, Redirect Spillover, Public Transit Account Funds, Vincent Thomas and Coronado funds.

Caltrans Toll Bridge Program

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/about/retrofit.htm

Texas to receive $135M to keep Children's Health Insurance Program alive through February

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday saying the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is giving the state $135 million to continue the program through February.

BY MARISSA EVANS DEC. 15, 2017 UPDATED: 3 PM

Elizabeth Ann Colette/Wikimedia Commons


The Trump administration is guaranteeing Texas $135 million to continue helping more than 450,000 uninsured children and pregnant women if Congress doesn’t renew authorization for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Charles Smith, executive commissioner for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday saying the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is giving the state funding to continue the program through February.

“Given this assurance, we do not intend to initiate steps to terminate CHIP this month,” Smith said. “I am confident that the state will receive sufficient federal funding to continue the program through February 2018.”

The letter comes after more than two months of fear among families who rely on the program that children in Texas and beyond would lose their health insurance benefits for checkups and treatments. The program expired Sept. 30 after Congress failed to renew funding.

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Texas Health and Human Services Commission officials submitted a request with the federal government on Nov. 16 for an extra $90 million to support CHIP in the state until February.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, tweeted Friday afternoon that "Congress will pass a long term CHIP bill next week."

Under CHIP, the uninsured rate among children across the country has dropped from 15 percent in 1997 to 5 percent in 2015. The program also offers prenatal care to about 36,000 pregnant women in Texas. About 394,000 Texan children ineligible for Medicaid are covered under CHIP, and another 249,000 Texan children on Medicaid benefit from CHIP’s 92 percent matching rate. Together, Medicaid and CHIP cover about 45 percent of all children in the state.

Republican Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said in a statement that “the children who benefit from this program should never have been put in a position where they might lose care.”

“The written assurances from the administration will provide some short-term certainty for the program, and that’s important,” Straus said. “But the need for Congress to act quickly has not diminished, and I hope Congress will reauthorize the program soon in order to provide the longer-term certainty that working families in Texas need.”

Anne Dunkelberg, associate director at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning policy organization, said the guaranteed funding “just buys us 30 days.” If Congress doesn’t renew the program before January, it will be bad news for many families.

“They don’t have to send out sad letters to parents that their kids won’t have health insurance before Christmas, that’s the good news,” Dunkelberg said.

https://www.texastribune.org/2017/12...rance-program/