Republicans in Congress Cut Funding From Medi-Cal and Covered CA in 2025 to Fund Tax Breaks for Wealthy Corporations, Threatening to Reverse the Gains in Coverage Made under the ACA

SACRAMENTO, CA – The Affordable Care Act (ACA) turns 16 years old today, but instead of marking another year of progress – Republicans in Congress have pushed California families to the brink of a health care crisis. Federal lawmakers’ refusal to renew vital health care subsidies has forced Californians to grapple with premium hikes that cost twice as much as last year’s rates, and forcing many into bare-bones bronze plans, or going uninsured altogether. On top of that, Trump and Republicans in Congress passed HR 1 – the “Big, Beautiful Bill”, which cuts Medi-Cal by $30 million per year, pushing millions Californians off coverage. Many who are eligible for coverage will face new red tape and paperwork barriers to accessing their care. 

The cost of care nationally has become so unaffordable that one-third of Americans are skipping meals and other necessities just to get the care they need; and more than half of Californians have skipped or delayed care. As everyday Americans and Californians struggle, all of the money taken out of our health care system went to fund tax breaks for the country’s wealthiest corporations. 

The #FightForOurHealth coalition is urging our state lawmakers to stop the bleeding by taking action now to raise the revenue needed in the state to protect our health care from cuts that stand to erase all of the progress we’ve made under the ACA. 

“The ACA’s 16th birthday should be a moment to celebrate how far we’ve come in the fight for accessible health care,” said Amanda McAllister-Wallner, Executive Director of Health Access. “Instead, Californians are facing a double gut punch — premium spikes that have doubled or tripled the cost of marketplace coverage, and the deepest cuts to Medicaid in a generation, pushed by Republicans in Congress to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest corporations. The threat of a health care crisis in California has never been more tangible, and we urge the legislature to respond with urgency — prioritizing health care in the state budget and finding the revenue solutions needed to keep care affordable for all.”

“Working families have always had to fight for every benefit we get,” said Charastina James, IHSS Provider, Sacramento SEIU 2015. “The ACA was hard-won progress, the promise of coverage for many who couldn’t afford it. Congress has reversed that progress to hand out massive tax breaks to wealthy corporations — the same corporations who refuse to pay fair wages or offer decent benefits. Now, workers with an impossible choice: go into debt for coverage, or go without. State leaders need to step up before more families are left with nothing.”

“Historically marginalized and overlooked communities have benefited enormously from access to health care through the ACA and from Medi-Cal expansions — and they stand to lose the most from these cuts,” said Kiran Savage-Sangwan, Executive Director, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. “HR 1 work requirements and ACA funding cuts to both Medi-Cal and Covered California funding are a direct threat to the health and economic security of families across the state. We need the California Legislature to do what Republicans in Congress won’t: protect the progress we’ve made to secure truly affordable health care, close the funding gap, and ensure that the burden of Washington’s cruelty does not fall on the communities who can least afford to bear it.” 

Background:

Congress’s refusal to renew life-saving ACA subsidies to make health plans through Covered California affordable and the massive cuts to Medi-Cal in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” (HR 1) are causing a big, ugly health care crisis in California. Recent reports and studies bring the impact of these cuts into focus:

• Health care costs are a household crisis: 7 in 10 Californians say health care expenses place a financial strain on their household – and 6 in 10 report that they or a family member skipped or delayed care in the past year due to cost.
• More Californians are worried about medical bills than rent: Nearly 2 in 3 Californians are worried about unexpected medical bills – a higher share than those worried about rent or groceries. 
• Cuts to ACA subsidies are having an impact today. Many Californians have been forced out of the coverage they need and into bare-bones health plans. Premium spikes expected to double the cost of coverage for people purchasing plans through Covered California have already forced more than 130,000 Californians into lower-cost plans that offer less protection. 
• Some are walking away from health care coverage entirely: Middle-income enrollees are cancelling their Covered California at twice the rate seen in the prior year, from 11% up to 22%. 
• 3 million million Californians risk losing Med-Cal coverage when taking into account state cuts to Medi-Cal for immigrant communities – including a new enrollment freeze and premiums for this population. This, on top of federal cuts, is already impacting enrollment in Medi-Cal for immigrant Californians. 

###