PEACH Opposes May Revise Cuts

PEACH submitted the following letter opposing proposed Medi-Cal cuts.

May 14, 2025

The Honorable Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson                The Honorable Dawn Addis

Chair, Seante Budget Subcommittee on Health    Chair, Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health

1020 N Street, Suite 502                                               1021 O Street, Suite 8230

Sacramento, CA 95914                                                  Sacramento, CA 95914

REGARDING: Reject Proposed Cuts to the Health Care Safety Net

Dear Senator Dr. Weber Pierson and Assembly Member Addis:

On behalf of approximately 90 community safety-net hospitals in California, the Private Essential Access Community Hospital (PEACH) association, I write to oppose the proposed cuts to health care services for California’s most vulnerable populations included in the Governor’s May Revise Budget proposal. 

We urge your Subcommittees reject the cuts to Medi-Cal services and medications, reject the increased administrative barriers to care like prior authorization for medications and hospice care, and reject the proposals targeted at cutting access to health care coverage and critical services for undocumented Californians. 

We also urge you to reject the Governor’s attempt at violating the will of the people of California by swiping the funds from the Managed Care Organization Tax.  Diverting voter-approved health care funds to close a budget gap not only violates the will of the people but threatens the health of the 15 million Californians who rely on Medi-Cal for their health and wellbeing. 

Every Californian deserves access to equitable health care.  The communities that suffer from unequal access to health care and health status share a common obstacle toward achieving an equal chance at a healthy life: a lack of resources.  These proposals exacerbate the already existing disparities in health care access and wellbeing. 

Medicaid protects communities of color.  Medicaid coverage is particularly critical for people of color because they are more likely to be living with certain chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, which requires ongoing screening and services.

Medicaid protects rural communities.  Higher proportions of individuals in rural areas live in poverty than do individuals in urban areas, and thus a higher percentage of rural individuals are enrolled in Medicaid compared to urban individuals.  In addition, working adults in rural communities are less likely to have access to private insurance than those in urban communities.  Medicaid provides funding to support coverage for rural communities and in doing so, helps sustain a healthy workforce.  

Medicaid protects people with disabilities.  Although insurance markets historically discriminated against people with disabilities, Medicaid provides reliable coverage to lower income people with disabilities, with no pre-existing condition exclusions or other barriers.

Medicaid protects health security.  Medicaid funding is specifically designed to ensure that when the economy falters and low-wage people of color and rural workers lose their jobs, the health care safety net is there to meet increased needs.  

All of the Administration’s proposals targeting Medi-Cal services attempts to balance the State Budget on the backs of California’s most vulnerable populations – people of color, those with disabilities, those in rural communities, those who need care in their homes, those with limited incomes and those with immigration challenges.  The vast majority of the cuts proposed by the Administration target health care services and target these vulnerable populations.  California’s communities cannot thrive if health inequities are exacerbated, and California’s vulnerable families will disproportionately suffer if access to vital needs are diminished or eliminated with the adoption of these proposal.   

With unprecedented Medicaid cuts looming at the federal level, California should be strengthening access to care—not undermining it.  The federal government is currently considering numerous proposals to cut hundreds of billions in the Medicaid program.  Any single one of those proposals, if implemented, would tear apart the delicate weave of Medi-Cal financing, reducing precious resources that enrollees and their families rely on when they need care. But California’s proposed cuts in addition to those at the federal level will decimate the health care safety net and the communities and families they serve. 

Our vulnerable communities need your advocacy to ensure these policy actions do not disrupt health care access at a time when so much is on the line.  We urge you to reject these proposals that hurts those that are already hurting the most.

Sincerely,

Anne McLeod

President and CEO

PEACH – California’s Community Safety Net Hospitals