California governor criticized for proposal to eliminate health benefit for some disabled immigrants

SACRAMENTO, California — California Governor Gavin Newsom vowed he would not solve the state’s budget deficit by taking away health insurance from low-income adults living in the country without legal permission. He called the state’s policy “something I believe in.”

But Newsom would wipe out an important health benefit for some low-income immigrants with disabilities, angering his allies, who now accuse the second-term governor of breaking his word.

California was one of the first states to provide free health insurance to all low-income adults, regardless of immigration status. The multibillion-dollar project, completed in January, made more than 1 million people eligible for California’s Medicaid program, including many people who had never had health insurance before.

Now, just five months later, and with California facing an estimated $45 billion deficit, Newsom wants the state to stop paying for health care providers who come to the homes of some disabled people — who live in the country without legal permission — to help them with cooking. , cleaning and other tasks so they can stay out of nursing homes. Everyone else would keep that advantage.

The Newsom administration says this would save about $94 million and affect fewer than 3,000 people of the more than 15 million people enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal. But eliminating the benefit would also make thousands of others ineligible in the future.

Newom’s proposal “is a treason,” said David Kane, an attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty. Ronald Coleman Baeza, director of policy for the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, called it “indefensible” and compared the proposal to an infamous ballot proposal from the 1990s that sought to deny immigrants access to government assistance programs.

“I think it could set us back in the sense of treating undocumented people as different,” said Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, a Los Angeles Democrat who has pushed for Medicaid expansion for years.

Newsom’s proposal for immigrants would affect a benefit known as in-home supportive services that is becoming increasingly expensive for the state to provide. The average hourly wage for healthcare providers has increased by 6% since 2014. And as of this year, as some of the emergency federal funding provided during the pandemic expired, there have been cost increases of about $200 million.

Once people qualify for the program, they are allowed to hire their own health care provider. It is often a family member, meaning the program often acts as financial assistance for families.

Marvin Estela Pineda, a 42-year-old woman originally from El Salvador and now living in California’s Central Valley, lost her sight at the age of 30 due to glaucoma. She started providing in-home support services earlier this year.

Her daughter, Mayde Pineda, said the government pays her $16.50 an hour for a total of 84 hours a month to care for her mother, including things like cooking, cleaning and laundry. Mayde Pineda, 22, said the money helped stabilize the family financially while she graduated.

“Without (this program), I will not be able to care for her without significant hardship,” Mayde Pineda said.

The California Department of Social Services, which administers the program, said it would work “to mitigate negative impacts on currently supported individuals,” which includes helping them find other publicly funded programs that can provide similar services offer. One option would be Medi-Cal’s community-based adult services program, which pays for things like personal care, food and skilled nursing services.

Asked for comment on his proposal, the governor’s office pointed to comments Newsom made earlier this month when he announced his budget plan, which included a series of painful cuts.

“We don’t find joy in this, but we have to do it, we have to be responsible. We must be accountable. We need to balance the budget,” Newsom said.

Newsom has spent much of his term basking in the praise of progressives while using a series of historic surpluses to expand government services. But back-to-back billion-dollar deficits are forcing Newsom to make some tough choices, putting him on a collision course with some of his most vocal supporters.

Navigating these conflicts will be critical for Newsom, who has been building his national profile ahead of a possible presidential campaign. So far, Newsom has taken swift action to address these issues. When the state’s largest teachers union took out ads criticizing him for his proposed education cuts, Newsom struck a deal with them that addressed many of their concerns. That deal must still be approved by the state Legislature.

Other negotiations will be more difficult. Newsom’s health care proposal for immigrants is just one of several proposed cuts to the state’s wide range of social services programs.

The state Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, plans to pass their own version of the budget by June 15, which would restore almost all of these cuts, including cuts to health care for some immigrants. Their plan does this by increasing a temporary tax hike on businesses while cutting about $1 billion from the state’s prison budget.

“We have left the budget out of balance for our most vulnerable populations,” said Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a Democrat from Moreno Valley.

Newsom and legislative leaders will negotiate a final spending plan in the coming weeks, with the goal of passing a budget around the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. As the Legislature votes on the budget, Newsom has a lot of influence . He decides whether the budget will be converted into law. California lawmakers have rarely overridden a governor’s veto.