On February 25th, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a budget resolution that directs the Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in spending cuts over the next decade.
The consensus is that these cuts would most likely come from Medicaid. As one of the largest federal entitlement programs, Medicaid provides health insurance to low-income Americans, as well as pregnant adults, those with disabilities and other older adults who qualify. Nationally, Medicaid covers approximately 73 million people. In California, almost 15 million residents rely on Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. This represents more than one in three Californians who receive health insurance through the state’s Medicaid program.
Drilling down even deeper, more than one in two children from birth to five in the state are eligible for Medi-Cal. This figure ranges based on the county, from 30 percent on the low end to 91 percent on the high end. Families with young children depend on Medi-Cal to receive critical care during the most important developmental period of a child’s life. This includes access to much needed preventative care such as well-baby visits, immunizations, and developmental screenings.
In recent years, California has been on a journey to transform its Medicaid program. This effort, largely known as California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal or CalAIM, is a multiyear effort led by the Department of Health Care Services to improve health outcomes and the overall wellbeing of Medi-Cal members. CalAIM lays the foundation for the state to move towards a more integrated and person-centered approach to providing care for those with the most complex healthcare needs, including California’s youngest residents. New benefits like the community health worker services, enhanced care management, dyadic care, and doula benefits all play a vital role in ensuring birthing families and families with young children have access to culturally affirming care to set them up for the best possible start in life.
Medi-Cal is more than just an insurance program-it is an investment in the health and wellbeing of California’s future. By providing essential health services to children from birth to five and beyond, Medi-Cal ensures that all children have the opportunity to grow up healthy and receive the care they deserve. Continued support for funding Medicaid is critical to ensuring the health development of the next generation.
For more information about how cuts to Medicaid might affect your county, see the birth to five Medi-Cal Population table below:
