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California's Unhoused at Risk as Medi-Cal Rules Change
6 Mar
Summary
- New Medi-Cal rules may cause over 90% of homeless to lose insurance.
- Work requirements will be difficult for homeless individuals to meet.
- Many eligible unhoused people could lose Medi-Cal coverage.
Starting in 2027, new Medi-Cal eligibility rules in California will require able-bodied adults under 65 without dependents to work 80 hours monthly or face losing coverage. State officials estimate up to 2 million recipients might lose insurance, with the state's 180,000 homeless individuals disproportionately affected. Many struggle with conditions preventing work and lack the resources to prove exemptions.
Street medicine providers like Brett Feldman worry this will decimate care for the unhoused, worsening their already poor health outcomes. While exemptions exist for disabilities and health conditions, proving them is challenging for those without consistent medical access. Even with state efforts to automate verification, gaps remain, risking that many eligible individuals could fall through the cracks.
This potential loss of Medi-Cal coverage could lead to increased reliance on emergency rooms and loss of vital social services tied to the insurance. The situation highlights the precarious stability of street medicine programs, which may struggle to sustain themselves without Medi-Cal funding, further jeopardizing healthcare access for California's homeless population.
