Newsom’s ambitious healthcare agenda has been destroyed in a “radically changing” world: LAist | Instant news

California Governor Gavin Newsome spoke in front of the USNS Mercy Hospital ship, which arrived in Los Angeles to provide assistance to Southland hospitals affected by a coronavirus. (Photo by Caroline Cole Ball / Getty Images)

This must be a great year for California health care.

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsome launched an ambitious proposal in January to help him achieve his goal of getting every California healthcare coverage. Although this is well below the single motivation promise that Newsome made in the footsteps of the governor’s campaign, the plan, if adopted, would expand the health care system just as other countries did.

The $ 47 billion health-care agenda, raised by the booming economy and pressure from legislative Democrats, is trying to expand the pool of unregistered immigrants covered by Medicaid, enabling California to make the same generic drug, pumping billions into Medicaid to overcome chronic homelessness and improve mental health And treatment of addiction significantly throughout the state.

Then he invaded the new coronavirus, destroyed ambition.

“The world has changed radically,” Newsom said this month as he prepared California for a COVID-19 boom in mid-May.

Supported by record economic growth and a $ 21 billion rainy day fund to protect California from the massive downturn, Newsome warned of a “budget crisis that is emerging”, stating that it could no longer deliver on its healthcare promises.

He said, “All of it is recalibrated.”

But Democratic lawmakers who control the two state legislatures – and will negotiate Newsome over the scope of the state budget for the period 2020 – 21 – are not always sure that they should abandon their plans.

Government senator Maria Elena Dorazo (D-Los Angeles), who urged Newsom to expand Medicaid coverage to include immigrants aged 65 and over, said. “Our reason is much stronger now because if they don’t have health care, it weakens our ability to stop the spread of COVID-19.”

Newsome said he had no choice but to cut the proposed state budget for initials from $ 222 billion.

Kelly Posler, the country’s chief financial officer, said the country may only be able to fund existing programs, respond and recover the corona virus. He warned that there may be discounts.

How much money will be available to keep the country running will not be known until mid-May. The Legislative Council, which halted in mid-March amid a pandemic, is not scheduled to reassemble it until May 4 and can do its work remotely for the remainder of the session.

The stock market and sudden job losses have fueled the country’s financial outlook in chaos, as California has received more than two million jobless claims since mid-March. Medi-Cal, Medicaid for the Poor in California, covers about 13 million California residents, and state budget analysts estimate that the number of cases will explode.

“This will be bad, but we could not determine how bad it is because of the resilient and vital nature of this epidemic,” Dr. Ballmer, the state’s finance ministry spokesman. “Obviously, we are in the middle of much worse than the midway recession.”

Meanwhile, the country began to deplete rainy day reserves and spend public funds to respond to the crisis.

Newsome spent more than $ 850 million in response to the epidemic, such as an oversupply of California fans and other protective equipment needed for an estimated increase in COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday night, he announced that the state had signed a billion-dollar agreement to get 200 million masks a month – enough for California and possibly to partner with other states.

Newsom also funded food and adult aid programs, and sent funds to the area to accommodate more prisoners while the state prison temporarily suspended entry, paying hotel and motel rooms for the homeless. The state will help pay the costs of the nearly 40,000 health care workers who employ them.

Newsome said the federal government will pay some costs, but it is unclear how much it will pay.

It may be?

Not so long ago, Newsom and the Legislative Council were in very different places, where they implemented policies that made California a national pilot site to expand health coverage.

Last year, they approved Medi-Cal’s expansion of $ 100 million annually for undocumented immigrants aged 19 to 25, and received praise from national party leaders and anger at President Donald Trump. They agreed to $ 1.5 billion for the next three years to fund new support for some low-and middle-income California citizens who buy health insurance on the covered California Health Insurance Exchange.

This year will be bigger.

“We have a unique responsibility to show the way,” Newsom said in January.

Newsom seeks to channel state and state Medicaid dollars to emergency rental programs to help homeless people find housing, and improve treatment for substance use disorders and mental health of homeless, at-risk youth and prisoners.

He threatened to impose heavy fines on health insurance that did not provide adequate access to behavioral health care, pledged to halt horrific medical bills, promised to reduce the costs of prescribed medicines and formulate a comprehensive plan to reduce public spending on health care by pursuing the health care industry in order to raise prices.

Democratic leaders and even Republicans embraced their focus.

“California is definitely the most aggressive in trying to push towards universal coverage,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president of health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News, which produces California Healthline, is an editorially independent foundation program.)

“Usually, you find countries that focus on costs or universal coverage, but what distinguishes California is the motivation to deal with both.”

What now?

Some Democratic lawmakers admit they should reimagine their healthcare agenda, including House member Phil Ting (de San Francisco), chair of the House Budget Committee.

“We should be very disciplined,” said Ting. “I don’t think we’re going to spend the money on anything other than the coronavirus and the economic recovery.”

But others argue that the proposals to expand coverage and access are more urgent because of the COVID-19.

“Everyone who cannot access health care and disease has the ability to spread the disease to more people,” said state Senator Richard Ban (de-Sacramento), who heads the Senate Health Committee and leads the state’s Senate Budget process to health related expenses.

Advocacy and lobbying also flooded Newsom with a budget request message asking it not only to adhere to existing offers, such as protecting people from exposure to shocking medical bills, but also to expand coverage further and increase state support for insurance. The group of doctors asked the governor to provide assistance to health care providers who lost income due to low patient incomes, while organized labor asked him to help companies so that they do not cut health care benefits for health workers.

The district’s behavioral health director believes that the state should fund more mental health and treatment for substance use disorders because its needs are greater today, especially for students who cannot go to school and for those who have lost their homes and work.

“We need to gather more attention and resources to save lives in health care and services, unless we intend to deepen inequality,” said Michelle Dotti Cabrera, executive director of the Health Society’s Behavioral Health District. “This year now.”

Although Newsom is trying to quell the spending boost by health advocates, he said on Saturday that health care remains a top priority and that he is “committed” to adopting reforms within California’s budget restrictions – even if it does not happen this year.

“We will do everything in our power to bow to the future despite these conditions,” he said. “Repairs can happen on good or bad days.”

California Health Line correspondent Rachel Bluth contributed to this report. This story has also been published on the California Healthline.

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