For Immediate Release July 25, 2024

CONTACT: Press@VoteYes35.com

Prop 35 will help address Los Angeles’ most urgent health care priorities

Los Angeles, CA – As Los Angeles faces a deepening health care crisis, local physicians, business leaders, hospitals, community health centers, emergency responders and hundreds of other organizations are calling on voters to support Proposition 35 on the November ballot. The initiative will address our region’s most urgent health care problems by significantly expanding access to quality care.

“As a family physician, I have dedicated my career to ensuring my patients have access to essential health care regardless of their type of coverage,” said Hector Flores, MD, a member of the Los Angeles County Medical Association. “But the reality is that many Angelenos face serious hurdles in getting the care they deserve. Proposition 35 will expand patient access to primary care doctors and to the specialty care that ...

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LOS ANGELES – June 28, 2024 – This week, the legislature passed and Governor Gavin Newsom is in the process of signing a series of budget bills for the 2024-25 fiscal year that reaffirm the state’s commitment to Health4All, while addressing a historic budget deficit. The budget maintains California’s leadership in expanding health care coverage but pulls back from critically needed investments to improve Medi-Cal members’ access to care.

We applaud the Governor and legislature’s decision to preserve the expansion of Medi-Cal to all income-eligible people, including In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) for all Californians with Medi-Cal. IHSS helps ensure residents with low incomes who are elderly, blind or disabled (including children) get the support they need at home, promoting well-being and reducing the need for expensive out-of-home care. Additionally, the budget retains the optional Medi-Cal acupuncture benefit.

Yet, patients can only obtain ...

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LOS ANGELES – May 10, 2024 – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled his May Revision budget proposal for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which aims to address California’s significant budget deficit. After an early action budget package that included $17.3 billion of solutions, the Governor projects a remaining $27.6 billion budget problem. While the proposal protects most core services, it also includes cuts and reductions that will jeopardize access to care and services for millions of California’s lowest-income residents. The proposal protects, with some exceptions, the state’s historic Medi-Cal expansion to all income-eligible people but cuts critical workforce funding.

The Newsom Administration has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to ensuring all Californians can access health care through expansions of Medi-Cal eligibility. For coverage to translate into meaningful access, however, the state must invest in the providers and facilities that patients depend on.

We applaud the proposal ...

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Initiative will expand access to healthcare services and improve care for all Californians

Sacramento, CA – The Coalition to Protect Access to Care has submitted more than 800,000 signatures to county registrars throughout California to qualify the Protect Access to Healthcare Initiative for the November 2024 ballot.

The initiative leverages existing federal funding to expand access to care for patients across California. It will protect the historic investment made by a bipartisan group of state leaders to provide stability for patients and healthcare providers.

California’s healthcare system is in crisis. In rural and urban communities alike, hospitals are closing, doctors offices are having to shut their doors, and community health centers and emergency departments are struggling to meet the needs of communities across our state. Without raising existing taxes, this measure – which has broad, bipartisan support –  will ensure our ...

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By Zev Yaroslavsky and Louise McCarthy

Government is often criticized for its failures, but once in a while government has a profound success story. In January, California took the final step in expanding our Medi-Cal program to all income eligible residents. As a result, Los Angeles County has sunset its public uninsured program, My Health LA, as its enrollees move to Medi-Cal. Thanks to decades-long efforts to stabilize and strengthen a once-crumbling safety net system, the Medi-Cal expansion offers Angelenos more than just a coverage card. It offers access to quality health care. As we celebrate this expansion of coverage it is important to recognize the investments that laid the foundation for this to happen.

Thirty years ago, our health system was on the edge of collapse and the county was on the brink of bankruptcy. In addition to the ...

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LOS ANGELES – January 11, 2024 – Yesterday Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled his 2024-25 state budget proposal, which aims to address California’s budget deficit. The Governor’s budget estimates a $37.9 billion budget shortfall, substantially lower than the $68 billion gap projected by the Legislative Analyst’s Office in December. The proposal protects investments in Medi-Cal and the state’s historic expansion of the program on January 1, but delays critical health care workforce funding. 

Gov. Newsom intends to close the budget shortfall by withdrawing dollars from the state’s rainy-day fund and enacting various spending reductions and delays. The Governor also proposes seeking federal approval for an amendment to generate an additional $1.5 billion from the state’s Managed Care Organization Provider Tax (MCO Tax), a tax on health insurance plans that generates federal matching funds for the state, compared to the approved MCO Tax ...

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