PROP 35

California imposes a tax on health insurance companies to help pay for Medicaid and Medi-Cal health care costs, called a Managed Care Organization tax. In 2023, the state had dedicated increased funding to Medi-Cal, but changed that plan when the budget deficit exploded in 2024.

Prop 35 is the health care industry's response. It would claw back that promised funding, and require the money be used on specific services, mostly those provided by the sponsors of the initiative. These providers had been looking forward to an increase in revenue because of the MCO tax, but now that tax is being used to replace existing Medi-Cal funding, so they're pissed. The only way they can force the legislature's hands is with a ballot proposition, so here we are.

I sympathize with the health care providers and the plans they made based on the money they were promised, but things change. Prop 35 will cost the state $1-2 Billion annually, and the last thing we should be doing is further restricting the state's discretionary budget. It's already too small, and limits our ability to pivot based on changes in the economy.

Your Political Friend is voting NO.