Read the full article by Hannah Ross at The Sacramento Observer and RAM’s New Times Magazine
On July 4, the ”big, beautiful bill” reached the presidential desk and the largest cut to Medicaid since its inception in 1963 was signed into law. Analysts warn of a ripple effect across the health care ecosystem, leaving millions without health insurance and impacting safety-net hospitals. Meanwhile, back-door defunding through new anti-DEI policies have left health care nonprofits and long-established government programs — especially those supporting women’s and reproductive health — in the lurch.
In California, Medicaid cuts threaten the state’s Medi-Cal program, the implementation of the federal program that insures around 15 million Californians.Though the bill has been signed into law, the implementation of the cuts will take place over a 10-year timeline beginning in 2027 — after the 2026 midterm elections.
At WellSpace Health and in community health center waiting rooms that provide care to underserved populations across the Sacramento region, the questions have begun: How will a major scale back of federal funding affect the care patients have come to depend on?