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Supervisors Briggs and Santiago recommending that pursuant to the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as federal health care reform), the Board adopt Resolution 031-2013 stating the County of El Dorado's support for a state-based approach, as opposed to a county-based approach, under which the State of California would expand its existing state administered Medi-Cal Program to cover low-income adults who are currently ineligible.
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Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as federal health care reform, the State of California has the option to expand its Medicaid Program (known as Medi-Cal) to cover over one million low-income adults who are currently ineligible. For three years, beginning January 1, 2014, the federal government will pay almost all of the costs associated with the expansion. Beginning January 1, 2017, the federal share of costs associated with the expansion would be decreased over a three-year period until the state pays for 10% of the expansion and the federal government pays the remaining 90%. Currently, counties have the fiscal and programmatic responsibility for the care for the low-income adult population that would be covered by the expansion.
Governor Brown proposes to adopt the optional Medi-Cal expansion and has proposed two options to implement the expansion beginning January 1, 2014: (1) a county-based approach under which counties would assume fiscal and programmatic responsibility for the provision of health services to the expansion population, or (2) a state-based approach under which the state would expand its existing state-administered Medi-Cal Program to cover the expansion population.
As the state is in a better position than counties to effectively organize and coordinate the delivery of health services to the newly eligible population that would be covered by the expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act, and as the state is also better positioned th...
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