Readers React: Medi-Cal free ride must end

To the editor: State Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) has introduced a bill limiting the state’s collection of money from the relatives of the deceased because taking from estates and heirs “needlessly prolongs poverty.” (“Bill would limit efforts to recoup Medi-Cal costs from patients’ estates,” June 5)

What about our collective poverty, and our tax money spent on years of care? California cannot afford to fund a medical free ride for the many who would take advantage of it.

And “basic healthcare services,” for which Hernandez says survivors should not be left paying the state, does not include years in long-term care facilities.

Georgia Jessup, Santa Monica

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