XPost: alt.politics.immigration, alt.politics.trump, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: go-home-and-protest-there@you.losers   
      
   In an extraordinary act of financial mismanagement, California Governor   
   Gavin Newsom, a prospective 2028 presidential candidate, is taking out   
   $6.2 billion in loans from the state’s general fund to meet a Medicaid   
   funding shortfall – a direct consequence of his decision to add 1.6   
   million illegal aliens to the program.   
      
   While “borrowing” money might cover the gap in the short run, the true   
   problem is that overloading welfare with millions of illegal aliens is   
   financially unsustainable. Even worse, federal taxpayers are now on the   
   hook for California’s far-left excess thanks to a Biden-approved scheme   
   that lets the state take in billions of extra dollars from the federal   
   government to fund Medicaid expansion.   
      
   The problems began in 2022 when Newsom and the state legislature   
   celebrated becoming “the first state in the nation to provide universal   
   access to affordable health coverage for lower-income individuals by   
   providing coverage for Californians ages 26 to 49, regardless of   
   immigration status.” This followed a 2019 decision to expand the   
   taxpayer-funded health insurance plan to all residents 26 years old and   
   younger, even illegals.   
      
   “California is tackling the cost of health care head on,” Newsom said in   
   2022. “Doubling down on our actions to reduce costs for middle-class   
   families and expand access to important services, this proposal is a   
   transformative step towards strengthening the health care system for all   
   Californians. Everyone is healthier when everyone has access to quality,   
   affordable care.”   
      
   The changes officially took effect in 2024. Just over a year later, they   
   have led to an enormous, entirely predictable financial headache for the   
   state. Unsurprisingly, providing free healthcare led to more people   
   taking advantage of it. The state originally predicted “an estimated   
   764,000 undocumented immigrants” would enroll. However, the actual   
   figure has been more than double that – and is growing by the day.   
      
   There are now “roughly 1.6 million immigrants without legal status,”   
   enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, according to Cal   
   Matters. This has caused a surge in costs above even what many critics   
   of the program predicted, and Newsom now must keep going back to   
   taxpayers to make up the difference. He first asked for a $3.4 billion   
   loan last month, followed by another $2.8 billion in April.   
      
   The cost of the loans is almost exactly the same as the price tag for   
   providing health insurance to 1.6 million illegal aliens as part of the   
   state’s $157 billion annual Medi-Cal budget, according to California   
   Healthline.   
      
   Additionally, describing the funding requests as “loans” seems dubious   
   at best – the Medi-Cal program will never truly “pay” those funds back   
   into the state’s general fund. It’s a bailout, plain and simple – even   
   as the state’s current debt stands at $273 billion. The $6.2 billion   
   transfer merely keeps the program afloat temporarily until the next   
   inevitable funding shortfall arises.   
      
   Republican leaders argue the expansion should be scaled back to put the   
   program on stronger financial footing. “We must stop new enrollments of   
   illegal immigrants and rein in this unsustainable program before it   
   collapses entirely,” California Republican state Senate Minority Leader   
   Brian Jones said.   
      
   “Democrats and the governor are picking priorities, and they’re   
   prioritizing people that have come into our country illegally over   
   people who immigrated here legally, people that are citizens,” Jones   
   added.   
      
   Republican Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher has similarly   
   criticized Newsom’s mismanagement. “What has been the biggest driver of   
   cost to the medical system?” Gallagher asked in March. “It’s been adding   
   illegal immigrants to those rolls.” With a Democrat supermajority in the   
   California state legislature, however, Golden State Republicans can do   
   little besides look on in disgust.   
      
   But Republicans at the national level might be able to do something to   
   stop the rest of the country from funding California’s handouts for   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)