Symptoms of a program in collapse.
Medi-Cal is broken. It’s billions over budget, and the patients who rely on it are struggling to get access to high-quality, reliable care. Just last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom was forced to pour an additional $6.2 billion into Medi-Cal after it ran out of money.
We need an audit to get to the bottom of these cost-overruns to stabilize the program for vulnerable people who depend on it and prevent painful cuts to other critical services provided by the state.
Over the past six years, Medi-Cal spending from California’s General Fund has surged to $42.1 billion. Total spending has increased 84%, reaching a staggering $188.1 billion.
Medi-Cal’s rising costs come when California faces another likely budget deficit in 2026. The fiscal crisis facing the program is threatening the state’s ability to provide services millions of Californians depend on, from law enforcement and fire protection to education and infrastructure.
One of the biggest cost drivers? California’s expansion of full Medi-Cal benefits to illegal immigrants. That expansion cost taxpayers nearly $10 billion this year alone — $2.8 billion more than what the governor planned for in his budget.
When Medi-Cal blows past its budget, it’s not the Sacramento politicians who suffer. It’s everyday Californians who bear the brunt of overspending: seniors, parents, homeowners and students.
In fact, Gov. Newsom has already proposed cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from education. He is refusing to fund the drug treatment and rehabilitation programs called for in Proposition 36 and fiscal experts are already warning that the state has no leeway to fund anything outside the governor’s most recent budget proposal.
