Tell Us How the Medi-Cal Cuts Will Affect You

Health Care for Low-Income Families in Jeopardy

Medi-Cal is California's public health program that provides needed health care services for low-income individuals including families with children, seniors, persons with disabilities, foster care, pregnant women, and low income people with specific diseases such as tuberculosis, breast cancer or HIV/AIDS. Even though Medi-Cal provides such an important service to some of California’s most vulnerable populations, the program is funded at some of the lowest rates in the country, threatening access to critical health care services.

Making matters worse, the Governor’s proposed 2008-2009 budget would slash more than $2 billion from Medi-Cal funding, an historic cut that California can’t afford.

If implemented, these cuts will erect more barriers for low-income Californians to access health services and will force tens of thousands into high-cost emergency rooms for care. The reductions would force doctors and other providers out of the Medi-Cal program, place increasing pressure on already financially strapped hospitals, and could force clinics to close their doors.

The budget proposal disproportionately impacts California’s most vulnerable patients – seniors, those in foster care, the poor, disabled, and chronically ill – who are least able to access health care. Additionally, important services such as home health care and dental and eye care would be cut. Reductions in these services, particularly for chronically ill patients, will force many of these patients into long-term facilities and hospitals, where the care is even more expensive.

Making matters worse, the budget uses accounting gimmicks to delay payments to health care providers by as much as a month. When the state delayed payments during last year’s budget standoff, some providers – particularly health clinics and home health care services – struggled to keep their doors open to all patients.

Budget Would Cut Billions From Healthcare for Seniors & Children

These cuts may have been proposed to address a budget shortfall, but they will cost California dearly in the short and long run. Not only will the state lose valuable federal matching funds worth more than $1 billion every year under this proposal, but the costs of health care will rise for everyone as patients seek care in emergency rooms and other expensive forums.

Alliance for Patient Care has come together to fight these cuts.