Report: California Ranks Second In Medicaid Births

A recent report (see below) using data from 2023 reveals that California ranks second to Texas in the percentage of Medicaid births. 41 percent of all births in 2023 were financed by Medicaid in California. Nearly 15 million children and adults are enrolled in the program costing the state $124.1 billion, annually. The U.S. government provided $81.4 billion in funding to the state, which accounted for 66 percent of total Medicaid spending.

Yet, the amount of federal dollars has dramatically risen since 2023, up 23 percent over two years.

“California Is Getting Rich Off of Medicaid”, reports Paul Winfree, Former Director of Budget Policy at the White House. “California openly brags about using a provider tax scam to avoid paying what is supposed to be the state share.”  

Winfree, Founder, President & CEO of EPIC, quotes a Wall Street Journal article: “California is expecting to take in almost $120 billion in federal Medicaid funds in the coming fiscal year – a gift from Uncle Sam. That’s up 23% over two years.”

“This is how the California government describes the laundering via provider taxes”:

“While the tax is charged to health insurance plans, most of the burden of the cost of paying the tax falls on the federal government. This is because the tax is designed to draw down more federal Medicaid funds, enabling the state to generate a large fiscal benefit while using the Medi-Cal program to cover most of the cost of the tax to health insurance plans.”

Last February, The Globe reported that California will receive more in federal Medicaid funding next year than Florida’s entire state budget – and just the increase they want is more than Nevada’s entire state budget, Unleash Prosperity says.

California’s Medi-Cal is California’s implementation of the federal Medicaid program, which offers free or low-cost health coverage to people who qualify.

The likely reason for the double-digit increase in federal aid to California is due to the expansion of Medicaid to include enrollment of illegal aliens. In January, California became the first state to expand Medicaid to include all illegal immigrants residing in the state, flooding the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, with as many as 700,000 illegal immigrants despite a record $68 billion state budget deficit.

According to Attorney General Rob Bonta (D-CA). “California’s Medi-Cal program provides healthcare coverage for one out of every three Californians, including more than two million noncitizens. (emphasis added by The Globe). Noncitizens include green card holders, refugees, individuals who hold temporary protected status, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients, and others. Not all noncitizens are eligible for federally funded Medi-Cal services, and so California uses state-only funds to provide a version of the Medi-Cal program to all eligible state residents, regardless of their immigration status.”

“California is one of eight states that has expanded their Medicaid programs to provide taxpayer-funded health care to illegal aliens. While federal law currently prohibits federal Medicaid funding from going to illegal aliens, with the exception of emergency services, recent watchdog reports expose how federal taxpayers pick up the tab for these state expansions of Medicaid. For instance, California is financing its expansion of Medicaid to illegal aliens by implementing a budget gimmick to draw down increased federal funding, placing American taxpayers on the hook for the free health care California is giving to illegal aliens,” according to a report by the Congressional Budget Committee.

The Globe has covered this boondoggle extensively with recent reports showing Medi-Cal is insolvent–costing taxpayers $23 billion over 2 years, forcing Governor Gavin Newsom to get both an emergency loan and a bailout, Rep. Kevin Kiley  confirmed.

Despite these facts and figures, Rep. Rho Khanna claims that Medicaid funding for illegals is “just a small part” of the overall expense. Yet, estimates show that California received a jaw dropping $4 billion subsidy from the federal government to pay for illegal immigrants to have “free” healthcare.

In California, pregnant women, including those who are undocumented, are eligible for full Medi-Cal coverage during pregnancy and for one year after the pregnancy ends. This coverage, which includes prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care, is state-funded and has been in place for decades.

In response to the Big Beautiful Bill passed by the Republican majority, the California’s Department of Healthcare Services announced, “Starting on January 1, 2026, adults who do not have Satisfactory Immigration Status (SIS) will no longer be able to enroll in full Medi-Cal. If you already have coverage, you can keep it; just make sure to renew your coverage during your renewal month.” (emphasis added)

Last July, California led a multistate coalition in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration arguing that the mass transfer of Medicaid data violates the law and asking the court to block any new transfer or use of this data for immigration enforcement purposes. The lawsuit was granted a limited preliminary injunction order in August.

Attorney General Bonta led the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington in filing the lawsuit.