Medi-Cal: Employer Responsibility for Medi-Cal Trust Fund.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not specify the exact amount of taxes and penalties to be imposed on employers, nor does it provide details about which specific federal changes are being referred to.

Medi-Cal Employer Responsibility Fund

AB-2729 creates the Employer Responsibility for Medi-Cal Trust Fund, which collects taxes and penalties from employers to support the Medi-Cal program.

What This Bill Does

• Creates the Employer Responsibility for Medi-Cal Trust Fund.
• Collects new taxes and penalties from employers as specified in the Budget Act of 2026.
• Uses funds collected to prevent loss or restore health care coverage, benefits, or access to care under the Medi-Cal program following federal changes.

Who It Names or Affects

• Employers who offer full-time employees and their dependents health insurance.
• Low-income individuals receiving healthcare services through the Medi-Cal program.

Terms To Know

Medi-Cal

A government program that helps pay for medical care for low-income people in California.

Employer Responsibility for Medi-Cal Trust Fund

A fund created by the bill to collect money from employers and support the Medi-Cal program.

Limits and Unknowns

• The provisions of this bill would only become operative if federal Public Law 119-21 is not repealed before January 1, 2027.
• It is unclear how much money will be collected by the new fund and how many employers will be affected.

Official Summary Text

AB 2729, as amended, Bonta.
Medi-Cal: Employer Responsibility for Medi-Cal Trust Fund.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions.
Existing federal law, Public Law 119-21, enacted on July 4, 2025, sets forth various changes to different health care programs, including certain requirements for Medicaid eligibility with regard to work or community engagement reporting, redeterminations, and cost sharing, among other factors, for certain Medicaid populations pursuant to a specified implementation timeline.
Existing law, the
federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, imposes a certain assessment on an applicable large employer, as defined, that offers full-time employees and their dependents the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential coverage, and for whom one or more full-time employees have been certified as having enrolled in a qualified health plan for which a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction is allowed or paid.
This bill would create the Employer Responsibility for Medi-Cal Trust Fund to consist of new taxes and deposits, including employer penalties specified in the Budget Act of 2026. The bill would continuously appropriate
moneys in
the fund to the
State Department of Health Care Services
department
to fund the costs of administering the Medi-Cal program in a manner necessary to prevent loss of or to restore health care coverage, benefits, or access to care following the passage of
federal House Resolution 1 (Public Law 119-21)and
Public Law 119-21 and
subsequent state budget actions. The bill would state that these provisions would become operative only if the Medicaid provisions of
federal House Resolution 1
Public Law 119-21
are not repealed prior to January 1, 2027. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF