As Gov. Gavin Newsom spars with\u00a0President Donald\u00a0Trump and courts national attention\u00a0for\u00a0a potential presidential bid,\u00a0at home\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0catching\u00a0flak\u00a0from the left and the right\u00a0on\u00a0health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0California\u00a0Democrat\u00a0came into office promising to fight for\u00a0\u201cguaranteed\u00a0health care for all<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0and he came close to achieving it. Really close. But as it turns out,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0easier said than done when\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0juggling\u00a0chronic budget\u00a0deficits<\/a>,\u00a0rising health care costs<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0shrinking federal support<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0walking the fine line between\u00a0keeping\u00a0his\u00a0early promises to progressives<\/a>\u00a0and being tarred as\u00a0a reckless\u00a0state\u00a0executive who has stretched California\u2019s\u00a0spending\u00a0beyond its means<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n After\u00a0years of political\u00a0infighting,\u00a0Newsom\u00a0and the Democratic-controlled\u00a0legislature\u00a0in 2024\u00a0broadened\u00a0California\u2019s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, to\u00a0all income-eligible\u00a0children and adults<\/a>\u00a0regardless of immigration status.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0rolling\u00a0back those expansions in the name of \u201cfiscal prudence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n This year, California\u00a0froze\u00a0Medi-Cal\u00a0enrollment<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0most\u00a0adults\u00a0without legal status, just\u00a0two years after\u00a0making them\u00a0all\u00a0eligible<\/a>. On July 1, immigrants not eligible for\u00a0federal Medicaid\u00a0\u2014\u00a0both legal residents and those without authorization\u00a0\u2014\u00a0will lose access to\u00a0state\u00a0dental coverage.\u00a0Next year,\u00a0they\u2019ll\u00a0have to start paying monthly premiums.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last month, Newsom proposed\u00a0letting\u00a0roughly 200,000\u00a0legal immigrants\u00a0\u2014\u00a0asylees, refugees,\u00a0and others\u00a0\u2014\u00a0get\u00a0cut\u00a0off from Medi-Cal after Sept. 30, when the federal government will stop paying for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advocates are livid.\u00a0<\/p>\n Progressives\u00a0say\u00a0Newsom\u2019s political ambitions\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and perceived need to distance himself from the\u00a0polarized\u00a0topic of immigrant health care\u00a0\u2014\u00a0go against\u00a0his early\u00a0pledges.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re clouded by what Arkansas is going to think, or Tennessee is going to think, when\u00a0what California thinks is something completely different,\u201d said California\u00a0state Sen. Caroline Menjivar, chair\u00a0of the\u00a0budget subcommittee on health\u00a0and human services.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Republicans and fiscal hawks\u00a0have\u00a0painted\u00a0Newsom as a\u00a0tax-and-spend<\/a>\u00a0Democrat prioritizing\u00a0use of\u00a0limited state funds on free health care for noncitizens.\u00a0And Newsom has taken hits from\u00a0the\u00a0Trump administration accusing California of\u00a0\u201cgaming\u00a0the system<\/a>\u201d\u00a0to use federal funds for immigrant health services.\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u2019s\u00a0not the only governor grappling with this dilemma.\u00a0And all 50 states,\u00a0which\u00a0are\u00a0currently\u00a0required to\u00a0provide health coverage to\u00a0refugees, asylees,\u00a0and\u00a0others,\u00a0will have to\u00a0decide whether to\u00a0backfill that coverage for some 1.4 million legal immigrants starting Oct. 1, when\u00a0a provision<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0the One Big Beautiful Bill Act\u00a0kicks in\u00a0and leaves states without federal reimbursement for their care.<\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n