Latest News On Medi-Cal

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Medi-Cal Enrollment Among Immigrant Kids Stalls, Then Falls. Is Fear To Blame?

KFF Health News Original

Enrollment among undocumented immigrant children in California’s Medicaid program started strong before stagnating and then falling. Although this decline is similar to an enrollment decline among all children in Medicaid nationwide, experts believe there are different reasons behind it.

New Budget Boosts Health Coverage For Low-Income Californians

KFF Health News Original

California lawmakers spent big on Medi-Cal in the 2019-20 state budget, voting to cover more older residents and people with disabilities, restore benefits cut during the recession and open the program to eligible young adults who are in the country illegally. 

Newsom: California Leads On Prescription Drugs

KFF Health News Original

California Gov. Gavin Newsom claims that his state is “leading the nation in holding drug companies accountable and fighting prescription drug prices.” Is that really the case?

Coverage Denied: Medicaid Patients Suffer As Layers Of Private Companies Profit

KFF Health News Original

Managed-care plans, which reap billions in taxpayer dollars to coordinate care for low-income Americans on Medicaid, outsource crucial treatment decisions to subcontractors that aren’t directly accountable to the government. In California, health officials say one firm improperly withheld or delayed care for hundreds of people.

Children’s Hospitals Again Cry For Help From Voters. But Are They Really Hurting?

KFF Health News Original

California’s 13 children’s hospitals are asking voters in November to approve $1.5 billion in bonds to help them pay for construction and equipment, the third such measure in 14 years. Some health care experts and election analysts believe the repeated financial requests aren’t justified.

GOP Gubernatorial Candidate John Cox: Limit Government In Health Care

KFF Health News Original

John Cox, California’s Republican candidate for governor, contends that policies on abortion, health insurance and health care access should be guided by the conservative ideals of free market competition and personal responsibility. He hasn’t offered specific policy positions on health care, except that government should largely stay out of it.

California: A Health Care Laboratory With Mixed Results

KFF Health News Original

California frequently innovates to address its wide-ranging health care needs, but it has not always achieved its aims. A series of articles in the journal Health Affairs shows, among other things, that efforts to care for HIV patients, provide better access to reproductive services for low-income women and fill gaps in primary care have sometimes fallen flat.

Lawmakers Push To Protect Patients And Counter Trump

KFF Health News Original

California legislators approved some significant health care proposals in their rush to meet the Friday end-of-session deadline. They tackled controversial topics, such as making abortion pills available on college campuses, and adopted measures countering Trump administration attacks on the Affordable Care Act.

Medicaid Expansion Making Diabetes Meds More Accessible To Poor, Study Shows

KFF Health News Original

The number of diabetes drug prescriptions filled for low-income people enrolled in Medicaid rose sharply in states that expanded eligibility for the program under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study.