New Analysis Reveals Full Impact of Governor’s Health Cuts: One Million More Californians Would Lose Health Coverage

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Permanent Policy Changes, Not One-Time Cuts, Would Hinder Reform
• Magnitude of Cuts Would Have Ripple Effects Through System
• Health Consumers and Providers Urge Alternative to Cuts-Only Budget

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

Earlier this week, Governor Schwarzenegger called the number of uninsured in California a "moral crisis"--and he was right, both about that and the need for concerted action on health reform.

Unfortunately, the Governor's cuts-only budget goes in completely the opposite direction, making our health care system even more broken, and leaving more people uninsured. Yesterday, we released a report that reveals the full magnitude of the cuts the Governor proposes--with over one million more Californians uninsured. While the Legislature has adopted some of these cuts and rejected others, all of these proposals are on the table until a budget solution is agreed to. There's early press from Aurelio Rojas at the Sacramento Bee and Jordan Rau of the Los Angeles Times.

Over one million more Californians would lose health coverage, with significant impacts throughout the state’s health system, if the Governor’s budget and health cuts were passed, according to a new analysis today.

The study, by the health care consumer advocacy group Health Access Foundation, uses information from the Schwarzenegger Administration, but shows a much greater magnitude than earlier estimates, which only looked at the impact of the cuts for less than a year, and not at full implementation.

The report is available on the front page of the Health Access California website.

The study shows that these health care budget cuts are of a magnitude that will impact every Californian, as they place huge burdens on the health system we all rely on. These are permanent, not just one-time cuts, to leave more than one million more Californians uninsured, and over three and a half million having to pay more and get less.

Previous summaries of the Governor’s budget proposals, including the May Revision, show the impact of the cuts in only the first year – with tens of thousands losing coverage or being barred from enrollment. But the impact is much greater, in three ways: