The State of California must borrow $3.44 billion dollars to cover a shortfall in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medcaid program — a year after expanding it to offer free health care to illegal aliens.
As Breitbart News reported at the time: “Beginning January 1, 2024, illegal aliens residing in California will become eligible for taxpayer-funded health insurance — the first state in the nation to enact such a policy.”
Governor Gavin Newsom had boasted of the budget agreement that made such a dramatic offer possible: “With these new investments [sic], California will become the first state to achieve universal access to health care coverage,” he had Newsom said in a statement in June 2022.
But after a year, it is clear that the Golden State lacks the cash to follow through on that commitment.
New: Gov. Newsom’s Dept. of Finance notified CALeg it needs a $3.44 billion loan for Medi-Cal.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) March 13, 2025
Letter doesn’t say it, but state leaders expanded Medi-Cal last year to provide health insurance to undocumented people.
The administration underestimated how much that would cost. pic.twitter.com/EoKEGsh5VC
As Politico notes:
California will need to borrow $3.44 billion to close a budget gap in the state’s Medicaid program, Newsom administration officials told lawmakers Wednesday in a letter obtained by POLITICO.
That’s the maximum amount California can borrow, and will only be enough to cover bills for Medi-Cal — the state’s Medicaid program — through the end of the month, Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer separately told POLITICO.
…
Originally, the state estimated it would cost around $3 billion per year to insure [undocumented immigrants]. But one year after the program has been fully implemented, it’s turning out to be more expensive than anticipated.
Democrats recently purged Republican State Assemblyman Carl DeMaio of San Diego from two budget committees, punishing him for demanding greater scrutiny of the state’s spending choices.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has, in the meantime, launched a podcast to interview conservatives, which he is using to claim that California is better run than Republican states like Florida.
Newsom also recently signed a bill to spend $50 million to fight the Trump administration’s policies.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
