The changes to Medi-Cal are coming fast and furious, but California funds a network of thousands of community health workers, also known as promotoras, to help low-income families understand health insurance options.
A few years ago, the state added the services as a benefit in Medi-Cal, which is the Golden State’s Medicaid program.
Mar Velez, policy director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, said the workers are trusted bilingual messengers who can lay out the changes clearly.
“Community health workers, promotoras de salud, are the lifeline to our community to be able to adhere to these new burdensome requirements. We need to ensure that they continue to be funded, protected from any state cuts,” Velez explained.
Republicans in Congress passed huge cuts to Medicaid last summer and put the savings toward immigration enforcement and tax cuts. As a result, starting in January, people on Medi-Cal will have to follow new work requirements and recertify eligibility every six months. California froze new enrollment for undocumented families starting last January. Starting next July, many undocumented families will lose dental coverage and have a new co-pay for medical visits.
Nora Vigil, patient service advocate for LifeLong Medical Care in Berkeley, trained by the advocacy group Visión y Compromiso, said the immigration crackdown has many families running scared.
“One of the problems that we have now in the clinic is that they don’t want to come to be assisted because they are afraid that we are connected with immigration. People, they are afraid to be deported,” Vigil observed.
In addition, federal cuts to the SNAP program mean many low-income families are losing access to CalFresh food assistance.
