New Labor Center Report:

Medi-Cal Expansion under the Affordable Care Act: Significant Increase in Coverage with Minimal Cost to the State


Medi-Cal Expansion Report CoverJanuary 2013, by Laurel Lucia, Ken Jacobs, Greg Watson, Miranda Dietz, and Dylan H. Roby for the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

The Center for Labor Research and Education (The Labor Center) published a new report on the highly controversial Medi-Cal expansion that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) sets forth. The Medi-Cal Expansion will expand eligibility to more than 1.4 million low-income adults in California beginning in 2014, if enacted by the state. Other mandatory provisions of the ACA will lead to increased enrollment among Californians who are already eligible for Medi-Cal but not enrolled.

The authors predict the increase in Medi-Cal enrollment under the ACA using the California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) model and estimate the associated new federal and state spending. The study finds that the new state spending on Californians newly eligible for Medi-Cal will be largely offset by increased state tax revenues and potential savings in other areas of the budget.

Read the full report here

 

Media Coverage
This report has received extensive media coverage since it was released in early January:

Legislation proposed to help California launch healthcare overhaul
Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2013

Calif. Health care exchange at a glance
San Francisco Chronicle, January 28, 2013

Medi-Cal Expansion: Covering More Californians for Less
California Labor Federation, Labor's Edge blog, January 28, 2013

California lawmakers set to tackle healthcare expansion
Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2013

Thomas D. Elias: Is Obamacare good for state?
Appeal-Democrat, January 21, 2013

Wary of cost, Brown commits state to health reform
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 13, 2013

Governor's Proposals for Medicaid Expansion
KQED, The California Report State of Health, January 10, 2013

Medi-Cal, health-care reform and the ER collide
Newsreview.com, January 10, 2013

Medicaid expansion could bring big benefit to state with little investment
Sacramento Business Journal, January 9, 2013

Weighing The Pros And Cons Of Expanding Medi-Cal
Dylan Roby on KPBS Radio’s Midday Edition, January 9, 2013

Viewpoints: Expanded Medi-Cal will bring federal money in reform
Op-ed, Sacramento Bee, January 9, 2013

New study helps build the case for expanding Medi-Cal
Op-ed, Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2013

Study: State Faces 'Minimal' New Costs With Medi-Cal Expansion
California Healthline, January 8, 2013

Analysis: Medicaid Expansion Brings 'Minimal' State Costs
The California Report's State of Health blog, January 7, 2013

UC study sees 'minimal' state costs from Medi-Cal expansion
Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert blog, January 7, 2013