Assembly Democrats block audit. Taxpayers left in the dark.
SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom is bankrupting Medi-Cal. Today, Assembly Democrats shut down an effort to get answers.
Assembly Republicans forced a vote on Assembly Joint Resolution 4 to demand a full audit of Medi-Cal, a system now running on emergency bailouts, riddled with financial mismanagement, and spiraling toward collapse.
“We called for answers. They blocked the audit,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher. “Doctors aren’t getting paid. Patients are losing care. Newsom created this mess, and Democrats just helped him bury the evidence.”
The facts:
- Medi-Cal ran out of money in March. Newsom needed a $6.2 billion bailout to keep it afloat.
- The Legislative Analyst’s Office says Medi-Cal’s rising costs are driving California’s structural deficit.
- Newsom’s expansion to cover illegal immigrants will cost $12 billion this year alone — with no funding plan and no accountability.
- His administration missed a federal deadline to implement Prop. 35, costing the state millions in matching funds and delaying care for vulnerable patients.
- California is heading toward a two-tiered system: citizens face work requirements in Washington’s Medicaid reforms, while Newsom gives full Medi-Cal coverage to non-citizens with no work requirement and no accountability.
Assembly Democrats blocked the audit that could expose where billions in Medi-Cal spending are really going.
AJR 4 demanded transparency:
- Why did Medi-Cal spending jump 84% in six years?
- Why did Newsom underestimate expansion costs by $2.8 billion, and need an additional $3.44 billion loan to pay the bills in Medi-Cal?
- Why is taxpayer money scattered across 30+ accounts with no oversight?
While Medi-Cal collapses, Newsom still found $1 billion for the stalled high-speed rail. Meanwhile, he shortchanged Prop. 36 — the court-ordered treatment plan backed by all 58 counties.
“We’ll keep fighting for answers,” Gallagher said. “Because while Newsom hands out benefits this state can’t afford, Californians are being pushed out of care.”
###