Editorial Warns Budget Cuts Would Harm State Safety Net

Proposed reductions in programs like Medi-Cal -- California's Medicaid program -- and CalWORKS -- the state's welfare-to-work program -- "have ugly implications for all state residents, not just the poor and disadvantaged," a Los Angeles Times editorial states. The Times writes that reductions to Medi-Cal "would cause doctors and hospitals to pass on more of their costs to patients with private insurance, leading to higher premiums," concluding that "shrinking California's safety net" is not "a solution to the state's budget problems; it's just laying the groundwork for something worse."

• "Holes in the Safety Net" (Los Angeles Times, 3/9).