California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, provides comprehensive health care services to more than 13 million in the state. That care, which includes hospitalization, physician services and preventive screenings for children and adults, is threatened by proposed Medicaid cuts in the so-called American Health Care Act (AHCA), now pending in the U.S. Senate. In the fourth Issue Brief of a 12-part “Protect Medi-Cal Funding,” series, NHeLP Senior Attorney Michelle Lilienfeld explains how federal cuts to Medicaid would endanger Medi-Cal’s ability to provide vital health care tailored to meet the needs of low-income individual and families. “Decimating federal Medicaid funding will substantially shift the cost of coverage to states and invariably lead to cuts in coverage and services.”
