Major players in California’s health care field have reached a deal on how they want the state to spend $19 billion in proceeds of a renewed tax on insurance plans plus the federal funds that go with it — a development that followed months of private negotiations between bitter industry rivals, state lawmakers and the governor’s office.
The complex agreement, reported by Politico, resolves a sticking point in budget talks that lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom have been working to resolve by June 30. It would impose a tax on health care plans in what those involved described as a once-in-a-generation investment into a system that serves nearly 16 million Californians. It’s a massive victory for the health care industry that came about through an alliance of powerful interests that are often avowed enemies in the statehouse. Read more.
