Another Failure: Gavin Newsom's Bankrupted Medi-Cal After Expanding Coverage to Illegal Aliens

We told them so.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (Democrat, of course) bragged about a huge budget surplus during the COVID lockdowns and made big promises to his core constituencies about how they were going to use that money. For many reasons (pandemic unemployment fraud, gross mismanagement, huge tax base losses) that surplus isn't just gone; the state has such a large shortfall that some agencies were ordered to stop ordering office supplies.

Last year, despite loud warnings about the cost from (most) California Republicans and anyone else with a brain, Newsom and his band of virtue-signaling Democrats made Medi-Cal available to illegal aliens in the state - and now Medi-Cal is bankrupt and Newsom's asking the legislature for $6.2 billion just to keep it solvent through the end of the fiscal year.

Surprisingly, he admits that paying for healthcare coverage for illegal aliens is "partially" contributing to Medi-Cal's funding shortfall.

Gov. Newsom told reporters today CA’s healthcare coverage for undocumented people is “partially” contributing its Medi-Cal funding problems.

He told me he thinks his latest $2.8B loan request to help cover costs is the last for the year. pic.twitter.com/0A8SaVnj2x
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) March 19, 2025

Where will that money Newsom's requesting come from? The state's general fund will probably be raided, and monies earmarked for other things (most likely from the $10 billion "climate change" bond voters approved last year, so not from anything important) will be diverted to pay for this boondoggle.

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego) wants to know why estimates were so far off (and so do the rest of us):

Just days after the Newsom Administration announced a $3.4 billion loan to cover Medi-Cal for illegal immigrants, they are now scrambling to secure an additional $2.8 billion just to keep the program solvent through June.
That’s a staggering $6.2 billion over budget...and the costs keep climbing with no end in sight. Californians should not be forced to shoulder the burden of radical Democrats' reckless financial mismanagement.
Even Jerry Brown refused to expand Medi-Cal to all illegal immigrants because he knew it was fiscally irresponsible and unsustainable. Now under Newsom, legal residents are paying the price both financially and in reduced access to healthcare.
The public deserves answers: Why are the costs so much higher than what Newsom promised? What is Newsom’s plan to fix the financial disaster he created?

And, Jones continues, we shouldn't be funding Newsom's failed political stunts:

California taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability, not another blank check for Newsom’s failed political stunts.

Seriously, Newsom can't get a single thing right. He can't name a single policy success. His financial estimates constantly overestimate revenue and underestimate cost. Yet, he's off convening special sessions to allocate money we don't have to "Trump-proof" the state, recording podcasts with Tampon Tim, and stoking fear that Medicaid/Medi-Cal will be destroyed. Well, as far as California goes, that might be true, but it will be his fault, not Trump's.

Much like Trump, Gavin can now claim that he's kept his promise from 2019 to hose California residents to provide this healthcare coverage (my summary of his words, not his actual words).

As Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) said:

My office has received a number of calls from individuals concerned about Medicaid. I would suggest calling Governor Newsom, who is literally bankrupting the program by giving coverage to every single illegal immigrant. https://t.co/VGzcYW34uZ
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) March 17, 2025

Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.

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