PROP 35: Change how lawmakers spend health care tax revenue

While Prop 35 would help raise more money for Medi-Cal, a health insurance plan for low-income and undocumented Californians, there are also some concerns community groups have raised about this measure. If Prop 35 were to pass, community voices and elected officials would have less of a say in how a certain tax on health insurance providers is spent. Decisions about this health insurance tax revenue would be made by hospital CEOs, insurance executives, and doctors. The State Department of Finance says Prop 35 would cost California $12 billion over the next three years, which would get taken from our general fund. A budget hole of this size would likely force cuts not only to health care but to other critical safety net programs that keep vulnerable Californians healthy, like housing and food support.

While Prop 35 has good intentions and would help fund a health insurance plan that over 15 million Californians depend on for health care, we are concerned about community voices being cut out of the process of how this health care tax revenue. 

The money that Prop 35 would generate would be raised through a permanent tax on certain health insurance providers without imposing any taxes on individuals. The measure would ensure that the money is used for its intended purpose – to fund Medi-Cal – by preventing lawmakers from rerouting the funds towards something else and requiring that 99% of the funding to go directly to patient care. 

The funding raised would be used to hire more first responders and paramedics to reduce emergency response times, address workforce shortages, expand access to preventative health care, reduce wait times in emergency rooms, and for specific care such as family planning, cancer treatment, and mental health treatment.

Because of the conflicting nature of some of the impacts of Prop 35 and the fact that our members’ core campaigns don’t focus on healthcare issues, we are not taking a position on Prop 35.