Medi-Cal—California’s Medicaid program — covers nearly half of all Latinos in the state. In San Diego County, 44% of Latinos rely on it for doctor visits, prescriptions and emergency care. But proposed federal changes could put that coverage at risk.
House Republicans are considering $2.3 trillion in Medicaid cuts as part of a broader deficit reduction plan. One element includes imposing work requirements for eligibility. A bill introduced in February proposes that adults ages 18 to 65 must work or volunteer at least 20 hours a week to qualify for Medicaid, unless they’re exempt.
A new study from UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute warns that this and other changes could result in nearly 2.3 million Californians losing Medi-Cal coverage. More than half of them are Latino. The researchers say many Latinos work in jobs that don’t offer employer-provided health insurance, such as hospitality, health care and construction.
“Almost 1.4 million Latino Medi-Cal enrollees are in these particular industries … they don't necessarily come with employee provided health insurance because these individuals work as independent contractors.” said Arturo Vargas Bustamante, one of the study’s authors. “So Medi-Cal is actually the one that comes as the insurance of last resort to cover these demographics.”
UC San Diego health policy professor Richard Kronick said work requirements won’t increase employment but will lead to coverage loss.
“The evidence is clear that the result is people losing coverage for administrative kind of process reasons,” Kronick said. “The real cost of not having insurance, which is that people are sicker and that more people will die, and we might save a teeny bit of money because of that. But it's a very teeny bit.”
That’s why the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California launched a bilingual social media campaign called “#SalvaVidas.”
“We started Salva Vidas … because Medi-Cal does just that. Salva vidas. It saves lives,” said Seciah Aquino, the group’s executive director. “It is such a key part of our safety net in California. It is our duty to protect it.”
The health of Latino Californians is central to the state’s economic success, Aquino said.
“We're very proud to be the fifth largest economy in the world,” she said. “That can only happen if our communities are safe and healthy.”
The proposed work requirements are part of a broader push to cut federal Medicaid spending, supported by eight California Republicans, including San Diego Rep. Darrell Issa.
