As Gov. Gavin Newsom spars withPresident DonaldTrump and courts national attentionfora potential presidential bid,at homehe’scatchingflakfrom the left and the rightonhealth care.
TheCaliforniaDemocratcame into office promising to fight for“guaranteedhealth care for all,”and he came close to achieving it. Really close. But as it turns out,that’seasier said than done whenyou’rejugglingchronic budgetdeficits,rising health care costs,andshrinking federal support.
Nowhe’swalking the fine line betweenkeepinghisearly promises to progressivesand being tarred asa recklessstateexecutive who has stretched California’sspendingbeyond its means.
Afteryears of politicalinfighting,Newsomand the Democratic-controlledlegislaturein 2024broadenedCalifornia’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, toall income-eligiblechildren and adultsregardless of immigration status.
Now,he’srollingback those expansions in the name of “fiscal prudence.”
This year, CaliforniafrozeMedi-Calenrollmentformostadultswithout legal status, justtwo years aftermaking themalleligible. On July 1, immigrants not eligible forfederal Medicaid—both legal residents and those without authorization—will lose access tostatedental coverage.Next year,they’llhave to start paying monthly premiums.
Last month, Newsom proposedlettingroughly 200,000legal immigrants—asylees, refugees,and others—getcutoff from Medi-Cal after Sept. 30, when the federal government will stop paying for them.
Advocates are livid.
ProgressivessayNewsom’s political ambitions—and perceived need to distance himself from thepolarizedtopic of immigrant health care—go againsthis earlypledges.
“You’re clouded by what Arkansas is going to think, or Tennessee is going to think, whenwhat California thinks is something completely different,” said Californiastate Sen. Caroline Menjivar, chairof thebudget subcommittee on healthand human services.
Meanwhile, Republicans and fiscal hawkshavepaintedNewsom as atax-and-spendDemocrat prioritizinguse oflimited state funds on free health care for noncitizens.And Newsom has taken hits fromtheTrump administration accusing California of“gamingthe system”to use federal funds for immigrant health services.
He’snot the only governor grappling with this dilemma.And all 50 states,whicharecurrentlyrequired toprovide health coverage torefugees, asylees,andothers,will have todecide whether tobackfill that coverage for some 1.4 million legal immigrants starting Oct. 1, whena provisionofthe One Big Beautiful Bill Actkicks inand leaves states without federal reimbursement for their care.