An analysis conducted by the Department of Finance and health care services department shows that if the new GOP bill is passed, California could lose up to $24.3 billion each year by 2027.
The new bill, also known as the American Health Care Act, would create a “fiscal shift,” from the federal to state governments and replace the Affordable Care Act. There would also be limited spending on Medicaid and funding would be lowered for hospitals and Planned Parenthood.
The analysis concludes that just by the year 2020, the state could lose up to $6 billion.
Along with state losing money, an analysis done by the California Hospital Association showed that almost three million people could actually lose coverage under the American Health Care Act.
However, lowering funding on Medicaid could prove to be a positive decision rather than negative. “These programs are not sustainable, unless you are going to tremendously increase taxes on the middle class,” said Sally Pipes, president of the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco.
The new bill would also make people renew their coverage every six months instead of once every year, which could cause some to end up losing their coverage.
“This would be a very big hit on the budget, the health system and the economy of California…And the implications for people’s health are serious,” said Ken Jacobs, chair of UC Berkeley’s Labor Center.
The American Health Care Act will be voted upon in the House on Thursday.
See the full story on CaliforniaHealthLine.org.