RE: Protect & Strengthen Health Care Coverage and Access in the 119th Congress Dear Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Jeffries, and Minority Leader Schumer: We, the undersigned organizations, comprise a diverse coalition of community-based, faith-based, labor, county, and health care organizations across California. Medicaid, Medi-Cal in California, is a lifeline for coverage and […] The post Over 200 CA Organizations Ask Congress to Protect Health Care Coverage appeared first on Health Access.
RE: Protect & Strengthen Health Care Coverage and Access in the 119th Congress
Dear Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Jeffries, and Minority Leader Schumer:
We, the undersigned organizations, comprise a diverse coalition of community-based, faith-based, labor, county, and health care organizations across California. Medicaid, Medi-Cal in California, is a lifeline for coverage and a foundational source of economic and health security for nearly 80 million Americans(1), and a key funding pillar for the doctors, clinics, and hospitals on which we all rely. We write to you out of concern that some in Congress are considering significant cuts and policy rollbacks to federally funded coverage programs, including cuts to Medicaid through the budget reconciliation process. We strongly oppose any proposal that will negatively impact funding streams to Medi-Cal or California’s health insurance marketplace, Covered California.
Despite widespread bipartisan support for Medicaid, Congress is being pressured to make cuts that would gut and dismantle this crucial program, reducing life-saving health care coverage and access for millions of Californians and leading to unnecessary suffering, illness, and death. At a time when low-income Americans are struggling to pay for their groceries and rent, we cannot raise their health care costs to pay for tax cuts for the most wealthy.
Medi-Cal
Nearly 15 million Californians depend on Medi-Cal, which provides free health care, dental care, vision care, mental health care, substance use disorder services, and long-term care to low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities across the state.(2) Expanded coverage for Californians as a result of the ACA significantly reduced California’s uninsured population by providing increased access to primary and preventive care, making families healthier, and protecting public health for all Californians.
Congressional Republican leaders have been open about their proposed plans to cut Medicaid. These proposals will have a catastrophic impact on the ability of American families and workers – including those in California – to access comprehensive, affordable health care. The proposals would devastate Medi-Cal and its enrollees, eliminating and/or degrading health care for the 1 in 3 Californians who rely on it, including 1 in 4 seniors and people with disabilities, 1 in 2 children, and 1 in 2 Latinos who rely on this program in California today. A portion of the over 823,000 seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medi-Cal home care benefits (In-Home Supportive Service)(3)for help staying healthy at home may instead be forced into costly institutions. With nearly 1 in 5 of all California workers enrolled in Medi-Cal (19%), and as high as 1 in 3 workers in the Agriculture (36%) and restaurant industries (35%), working families will be hit hard.(4) Children and families will get sicker, emergency visits will increase, more people will die or end up with significant medical debt.
Impacts of Medicaid Cuts on the Economy and Jobs
Changes to Medicaid risk undermining the economic stability of fiscally vulnerable health care providers, such as rural hospitals. Californians – already struggling with maternity ward and hospital closures – will experience more closures, longer wait times, more health care-related travel, and more harm to patients. As health care facilities close or downsize, physicians will move or be forced into retirement. Health care jobs will be eliminated, sending more individuals and families into poverty. There are over 725,000 individuals enrolled as In-Home Supportive Service (IHSS) providers in California.(5) These individuals are spread in every city and county in the state. A change in federal funding could lead to reductions in hours for the consumers these providers care for and a loss of work and wages for these caregivers. As there are more financial stressors on health care facilities, training of the next generation of health care workers and physicians is among the first things to get cut. With the majority of Californians living in health professional shortage areas, these cuts would set California further back on training of behaviorist, allied health care workers, and physicians. In rural communities in particular, where hospitals and clinics are the biggest employer, a facility closure impacts the whole community, shuttering Main Street and having a ripple effect on the local economy.
Covered California
1.9 million Californians could also see their costs spike without action by Congress to stabilize state-based exchanges like Covered California(6). Prior to the creation of Covered California, it was nearly impossible for small business employees, entrepreneurs, students, and independent contractors to get coverage that wasn’t prohibitively expensive, or they would be denied altogether because of pre-existing conditions like cancer, or even pregnancy. Covered California created a pipeline to coverage that was affordable because the federal government subsidized it. Over the years, as California and federal efforts have expanded, this coverage is the most affordable it’s ever been. As a result of these subsidies, the average annual cost of coverage as a percent of income for subsidized marketplace households decreased significantly between 2019 and 2022, falling 16% to 40% depending on household income. This means record enrollment – 1.9 million Californians are purchasing their care through Covered California.(7)If Congress does not continue this premium assistance, the cost of health care premiums for Californians will increase on average $1,000/year(8). If these federal subsidies end, we will also not be able to continue state cost-sharing subsidies that are keeping co-pays and deductibles down for families. Inaction on this will mean more of your constituents facing spikes in their health care costs in 2026.
The people and families you represent need relief from rising health care costs and the financial uncertainty they bring. Yet any proposal to cut Medicaid or eliminate exchange subsidies will increase health care costs for all working people, since providers will shift the cost of care onto families, even as the ultra-wealthy reap a windfall.
In closing, we can’t go back, and it is imperative that we continue to protect access to health care for millions of Californians and reject proposals to cap or cut Medi-Cal. We urge you to work with your colleagues to send a strong message to the Speaker and House leaders that any cuts to the Medicaid program are unacceptable and that action must be taken to preserve affordability in Covered California. We welcome your thoughtful consideration of the concerns raised here and urge you to vote against any and all efforts to roll back the health and economic stability of the communities you represent.
Sincerely,
The post Over 200 CA Organizations Ask Congress to Protect Health Care Coverage appeared first on Health Access.
