by Dennis Tivey, Communication & Outreach Coordinator
On November 8, 2016, California voters approved Proposition 52 with more than 70% of the vote, thereby permanently securing a funding source that helps pay for Medi-Cal patient care, but reducing lawmakers' flexibility to reallocate funds from that source.
Under a program first authorized by lawmakers in 2009, hospitals pay a fee to help fund Medi-Cal, triggering a federal contribution to Medi-Cal, resulting in a net benefit to hospitals. During the fiscal year that ended in June 2016, the program generated $4.4 billion in federal funding for Medi-Cal.
Most of the money goes to hospitals for Medi-Cal payments and grants (e.g. for county hospitals in urban areas with large homeless populations to treat Medi-Cal patients), while a smaller portion goes into the general fund, where it is used to offset costs for children in the Medi-Cal program.
By passing Proposition 52, voters prevented the program from expiring in 2018, and prevented the Legislature from significantly changing the allocation of the money without either voter approval or a two-thirds majority vote by state lawmakers.
(Interested in learning more? This L.A. Times editorial explains why and how the funding stream came to be, and explains who supported and opposed the measure and why.)