California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Applauds Governor, Legislative Leadership for Swift Action in Response to CMS Medicaid/CHIP Rule, Caucus Commits to Continued Advocacy for Long-Term Billing Pathway

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Applauds Governor, Legislative Leadership for Swift Action in Response to CMS Medicaid/CHIP Rule, Caucus Commits to Continued Advocacy for Long-Term Billing Pathway

SACRAMENTO, CA — The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus issued the following statement following the signing and enactment of the AB 113 budget bill Jr., which includes $10 million in emergency funding in response to the CMS Medicaid/CHIP final rule:

“The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus applauds Governor Newsom, Senate Pro Tem Monique Limón, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and legislative budget leadership for working with us to secure $10 million in emergency funding to maintain access to gender-affirming health care for Medi-Cal patients impacted by the Trump Administration’s recent Medicaid and CHIP funding restrictions.

This critical, short-term investment provides an immediate state-funded response to the federal funding restrictions and will help prevent an immediate disruption in care for transgender youth and their families. We are especially grateful for the urgency with which our legislative colleagues, the Administration, and budget teams responded to this new federal attack on health care and worked with us to secure a solution in a matter of weeks before the end of the legislative session. California has once again demonstrated that when the federal government attempts to use its funding power to interfere with medically necessary health care, our state will act to protect patients and families. While this emergency investment provides an essential and immediate response to the federal funding restrictions, the Caucus recognizes that this does not establish a state-only Medi-Cal billing pathway. We will continue advocating for the establishment of this durable, state-only billing pathway, and we look forward to working with the next Administration, impacted families, health care providers, advocates, and community partners towards that goal. In the immediate, we will remain focused on ensuring that the emergency funding is implemented effectively and helps protect continuity of care for Medi-Cal and CHIP patients for as long as these federal restrictions remain in place.

We remain deeply grateful to the Governor, legislative leadership, and budget teams for their partnership in securing this immediate investment. The work now continues – implementing this emergency program as quickly as possible, ensuring it effectively protects continuity of care, and continuing to advocate for a long-term solution so that federal funding restrictions never become barriers to medically necessary health care for any Californian.”

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About the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus

California’s Legislative LGBTQ Caucus was formed in 2002 to create a forum for California Legislators to discuss issues that affect LGBTQ Californians and to further the goal of equality and justice for all Californians. California became the first state in the United States to officially form a caucus of openly-LGBTQ state legislators and continues to be a leader of progress for all Americans. In 2023, our membership hit a new milestone of 12 members, becoming one of the largest LGBTQ Caucus in the Nation, and continues to remain strong. Despite tremendous progress and an unprecedented swell of support for the LGBTQ community worldwide, there is still much work to do to protect and uplift the most vulnerable in our community. The LGBTQ Caucus strives to advocate for diversity and inclusion of all people, including differently abled bodies. Our Caucus is working diligently to support LGBTQ leaders that represent our community at the local, state, and federal levels.

For more information on the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, please visit https://lgbtqcaucus.legislature.ca.gov/ 

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