Should private hospitals pay a tax to fund MediCal?

Proposition 52 would make a temporary tax levied on private hospitals since 2009 permanent. In 2009 the state Legislature imposed a tax on private hospitals to fund the state's MediCal shortfall. Proponents argue that the tax goes right back into the hospitals in the form of MediCal reimbursements and helps the state's budget because the funds are matched by the federal government. In 2015 the tax raised $4 billion from private hospitals and a matching $4 billion from Washington. Proposition 52 would guarantee that the Medi-Cal funds raised by the hospital tax are spent reimbursing hospitals, not attending to any of Medi-Cal's many other needs. Opponents, including the SEIU, argue that it hurts private hospitals and their employees.