How SoCal Democrats and advocates are responding to threats to Medi-Cal

As Republicans in Congress weigh a budget with cuts that could affect Medi-Cal, opponents of the bill have organized in Southern California to advocate for the state's insurance program for low-income people.

The stakes are high. Medicaid provides healthcare for nearly 15 million people in California and more than 40% of the state's children.

In Orange County, healthcare workers and residents rallied outside Republican Representative Young Kim's office in Anaheim. In L.A. County, roundtables of Democrats, Medicaid recipients and others responded to calls for action.

What’s Congress voting on?

Passed along party lines last month, the U.S. House’s budget resolution directs its Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880 billion over 10 years. A Congressional Budget Office report found that absent Medicare, Medicaid is 93% of the mandatory spending that the committee oversees.

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Around $200 billion of the remaining mandatory spending is for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, per that report. CHIP allows some families above Medicaid income thresholds to access low-cost health insurance for children.

Republican leaders have insisted that they don’t want to cut Medicaid benefits, and that the funds being targeted are “waste and fraud.” But experts and opponents have said the depth of cuts the House budget proposal outlines are impossible without affecting Medicaid.

The Senate passed its own budget resolution last month and the two chambers will have to come to a consensus. That process, called budget reconciliation, is far from a done deal.

California Democrats and advocates rally against budget proposal

The House budget resolution does not include details on how proposed cuts might be achieved.

Adriana Ramos-Yamamoto, a policy analyst with the California Budget & Policy Center, said one approach could include enacting a work requirement for Medicaid, which could lead to many people losing coverage due to ineligibility or inability to navigate the bureaucracy.

Ahead of more budget negotiations, Democrats and advocates are rallying in response, pointing to what cuts to Medi-Cal would mean here in Southern California. A spokesperson for California labor union SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West said healthcare workers are traveling to Washington, D.C. this week to speak with lawmakers about healthcare funding.

Last week, as protesters demonstrated in Anaheim, Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove hosted a roundtable in downtown Los Angeles as part of Democrats' "National Day of Action to Protect Medicaid."

"The best way that we can fight back against any of these cuts is to educate the public about just how critical these programs are," Kamlager-Dove said to a group that included Medicaid members, healthcare plans and community advocates.

Mark Peterson, a professor of public policy at UCLA with expertise in health care policy, said that this type of public pressure is the leverage House Democrats have to combat potential cuts down the road.

" I think the Democrats are trying to make sure that the difficult political dynamics for maybe upwards of 15 House members in the Republican conference will be such that they simply will not be able to support the budget resolution," Peterson said. " Health care involving children is one of those things where most people don't want to see those cuts."

Who voted for the House budget resolution?

All nine Republicans representing California in the House of Representatives voted in favor of the budget resolution, including Southern California Reps. Ken Calvert, who represents parts of Riverside County, Jay Obernolte of Kern, L.A. and San Bernardino Counties, and Darrell Issa of San Diego and Riverside Counties.

A spokesperson for Rep. Young Kim, who represents parts of Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, responded to the protest at her Anaheim office.

“Rep. Kim is appreciative of the work of these advocates on health care issues. She is committed to protecting and strengthening our healthcare system, including vital Medicaid services for our most vulnerable,” the spokesperson said.

Laura Ordoñez with the advocacy organization Caring Across Generations was at last week’s rally and said demonstrators want Kim to define what "vital services" mean to her.

"She needs to publicly oppose any reforms that would effectively cut these services," Ordoñez said. "These proposals to overhaul Medicaid without cutting services often result in reduced services… and also eligibility cuts."