March 30, 2010

California - spending even more money with little to show for it

There is a silver lining here -- Pelosi is from California and when the voters find out just how much the new Obamacare is going to cost the State, hopefully, they will be able to see what to do next election cycle... From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Health care law may cost California billions
The passage of health care reform has focused attention on Washington, but the significant and expensive burden of implementing key provisions of the law now falls to individual states, and officials in cash-strapped California say it will cost the state billions of dollars a year.

Much of the federal reform is built upon expansion of Medicaid programs - California's is called Medi-Cal - to people who previously did not qualify. States across the country are poring over the federal law and crunching numbers to determine how it will affect their budgets.

"We believe Congress has to account for the fiscal reality of states today if Medicaid is going to be sustained and expanded and serve as a foundation for reforms of tomorrow," said Kim Belshé, secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency.

Belshé said she and the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger support the aims of the health reforms, but emphasized that California already has had to make deep and difficult cuts into health services. Some lawmakers have accused the administration of shredding the social safety net.
The article continues with the observation that the major expenses are going to be increases in administration costs. $25 Billion over ten years for the Medicaid expansion alone. Growing government and not keeping people fit and healthy. This is just so fscking wrong in so many ways it is not funny... Posted by DaveH at March 30, 2010 1:32 PM | TrackBack