Legislative Analyst Recommends State-Based Medi-Cal Expansion

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Credit Ben Adler / Capital Public Radio

California's non-partisan Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor. (file photo)

A non-partisan legislative report suggests expanding California’s Medicaid program under the federal health law would make good sense in terms of finance and policy. 

The Legislative Analyst’s Office says the state should move ahead with the Medi-Cal expansion that Governor Jerry Brown recently laid out in his budget. 

It says not only could the coverage mean better health for the newly eligible, but it says the money both the state and counties would save would far outweigh the costs in the short and long term. 

In choosing between the options the Governor laid out for the expansion, the LAO recommends the state, not the counties, take control. That way, health care services would be more organized and less fragmented. 

But if the state leads the expansion, the LAO says funding the counties currently use to pay for the uninsured should be partially reallocated to reflect changing responsibilities.