In a conference organized by American Community Media, health specialists warned about the risk posed by cutting subsidies to the Medi-Cal program, California\u2019s version of Medicaid. The event addressed how California\u2019s experience could serve as a model of resistance for the rest of the country.
It took a long 60 years for Medi-Cal\u2014a social health program aimed at low-income individuals\u2014to reach large numbers of people in the United States. Today, the outlook is grim and uncertain: the country is facing the largest social health subsidy crisis in its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just a health issue, but a community issue\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m concerned as a father and as a doctor. Costs will start to rise. There will be a real effect on hospitals and community clinics. We will have fewer doctors, fewer nurses, and therefore less health care. That will have a direct impact on our community,\u201d said Dr. Ilan Shapiro Strygler, SVP, Chief Health Correspondent and Medical Affairs Officer at AltaMed Health Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shapiro stressed that community clinics manage the health of our population and that the entire community will be affected. He also warned that the economic base will suffer consequences: \u201cAs we invest in health systems, it\u2019s a promise to our children. We all share the same promise: we want to strengthen ourselves as a community and move forward; Medi-Cal is that path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Shapiro, nearly 2 million people, including children, are expected to lose their coverage. He emphasized that children with different abilities will be among the most affected: \u201cMany of the children I work with are neurodivergent and have chronic illnesses. We need Medi-Cal resources to ensure their health and continued improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To illustrate the future problems that cuts to Medi-Cal could cause\u2014not only in personal health but also socially and communally\u2014the doctor said: \u201cImagine a father who works two jobs, but if he doesn\u2019t have access to health insurance, he won\u2019t be able to keep them. That indirectly harms his family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also warned about the fear and mistrust that lead many people to avoid treating chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, prioritizing daily survival: \u201cPeople are choosing a way to survive instead of addressing their health problems.\u201d He added that he is worried about short-term effects, especially during chronic disease seasons. \u201cI\u2019m afraid of what could happen with the flu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Medi-Cal as a Tool to Fight Poverty<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cary Sanders, Senior Policy Director at the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network and another expert in the discussion, emphasized the importance of Medi-Cal as a program that has historically fought poverty not only in California but also across the United States: \u201cMedicaid is a civil rights program and it still is. It has survived regardless of federal attacks. It\u2019s a crucial anti-poverty program for continuing to advance racial equity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sanders also stressed that health care in California is quite expensive and that thanks to Medi-Cal, many families have managed to survive despite poverty. However, the OBBB law\u2014passed as a bill on July 4\u2014could roll back progress achieved through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which reduced the uninsured rate in the state to 6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also stated that it\u2019s important to hold accountable those who voted to approve this bill, which is harmful to the country\u2019s health: \u201cPeople have the right to know what\u2019s happening. We have to keep educating people about what this bill means and who voted for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In that context, states are analyzing how to cope with the loss of federal subsidies, which could worsen medical debt. Sanders explained that \u201cstate marketplaces are exploring options to offset, at least in part, the potential loss of premium tax credit subsidies that might not be renewed.\u201d However, she clarified that changes \u201care not going to happen overnight,\u201d but insisted on the need to keep the debate alive and disseminate information about available financial assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPart of our job is to make sure people are aware of financial assistance. Many people don\u2019t know how to access health services. We need to keep insisting on this,\u201d she reaffirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Risk for Rural Hospitals and Health Care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Anthony Wright, Executive Director at Families USA, was clear in calling the OBBB law \u201ca disaster.\u201d \u201cMore than 17 million people will lose coverage, either because it\u2019s taken away or because they face bureaucratic obstacles and rising costs that, to a large extent, prevent them from accessing it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wright warned that rural hospitals will be among the most affected, facing the risk of reducing services or even closing. For him, there are three key points: hold those who approved the law accountable, alert the public about what\u2019s happening, and resist further cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, costs are high in both public and private plans, and an increase in cost-sharing and market premiums is expected, driven by the expiration of key tax credits and the reduction in the number of insured individuals. This will leave a smaller, sicker risk pool, pushing premiums even higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a consequence, cuts could occur that would directly affect hospitals, clinics, and other providers. State governments, Wright concluded, will face the difficult decision of cutting benefits or reducing rates to health care providers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a conference organized by American Community Media, health specialists warned about the risk posed by cutting subsidies to the Medi-Cal program, California\u2019s version of Medicaid. The event addressed how California\u2019s experience could serve as a model of resistance for the rest of the country. It took a long 60 years for Medi-Cal\u2014a social health […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[686],"tags":[1277,196,687,1319],"class_list":["post-1165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-community-media","tag-american-community-media","tag-california","tag-medi-cal","tag-medicail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1166,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions\/1166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}