Medi-Cal isn’t just health care for 61-year-old Carol Bush, it’s necessary for survival.
"I would probably die. Because I can’t work right now,” Bush said.
Bush, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is recovering from gallbladder surgery, lives in a shelter with her dog, Winter. She relies on Medi-Cal for medication, doctor’s visits, and hospital care. But now, with federal budget cuts looming, she fears she could lose her health insurance.
Medi-Cal is California's version of the health insurance for low-income residents known as Medicaid.
On Feb. 25, the House advanced a bill requiring the House Energy and Commerce Committee — which oversees spending for Medicaid and Medicare — to cut $880 billion over the next decade. Health policy experts expect Medicaid to be a target.
Bush said she’s been hearing “a lot of things” about President Donald Trump’s plans to cut federal spending.
"He's going to take people's Medi-Cal and that he's going to take people's Social Security, and then he's shutting everything down, there’s going to be tons more homeless people," Bush said.
Nearly 3 out of 4 Californians across political party affiliations want to keep Medi-Cal unchanged according to a poll published Monday by The California Health Care Foundation and the University of Chicago. The researchers also found two-thirds of people polled say they are worried that Medi-Cal recipients won’t be able to get the same level of care in the future.
In San Diego County, 1-in-4 residents — more than 883,000 people — relied on Medi-Cal in February, including seniors, people with disabilities and low-income families. Advocates say cuts could have devastating consequences.
“Particularly for folks that are experiencing homelessness. Medi-Cal is often the only health care that they can access, and we know we've seen time and time again what happens that a lot of people experiencing homelessness seek care in the emergency room, which is the most expensive place to get care," said Paul Downey, president and CEO of Serving Seniors, a nonprofit that assists older adults in San Diego.
Medi-Cal is a lifeline for nearly 300,000 children in San Diego County, said Mayra Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership, an advocacy organization focused on children's health equity.
“(It covers) everything from emergencies to preventive care to just going to the doctor to get those developmental screenings to make sure your baby's growing up right. Those are all critical pieces that Medi-Cal provides families, that peace of mind, that security that comes with having health insurance coverage," she said.
UC San Diego health policy expert Rick Kronick analyzed the proposed federal funding cuts and said if most cuts target Medicaid, it could result in a 10% reduction in federal funding for California. He estimated that level of cuts could leave over 100,000 people in San Diego County without health insurance coverage.
“It is striking in this poll that both Republicans and Democrats express high levels of support for the Medi-Cal program, which indicates how important that program is to many Californians,” Kronick said.
Bush said she doesn’t know what she’ll do if the cuts go through. For now, she’s hopeful her Medi-Cal coverage will still be available to her for a few planned medical procedures on the horizon.
"If I didn’t have Medi-Cal, I wouldn't be able to see any doctor," she said.
