The Weekly Dispatch
Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area.
Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Vanessa G. Sánchez, senior health equity reporter.
On May 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his final budget plan as governor, outlining the steps California plans to take to balance the state’s coffers and reduce a fiscal deficit over the next few years. The proposed budget – which will be approved in late June – is not good news for around 1.6 million low-income undocumented immigrants who are enrolled in Medi-Cal. Nor is it for 200,000 lawfully present immigrants with humanitarian protections.
As we have previously reported, the Medi-Cal program has been a key point of contention during budget discussions since 2025, when Newsom announced, for the first time, a rollback of the program expansion for undocumented immigrant adults due to a $12 billion deficit and larger-than-expected enrollment in the program. In response, the governor and the legislature approved a budget that froze the Medi-Cal program, suspended dental benefits, and added a monthly premium of $30.
That same year, President Trump signed H.R. 1, the mega bill known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which included the largest cuts to health care in U.S. history, restrictions to social and health programs for lawfully-present immigrants, and penalties for states that provide health care coverage for undocumented immigrants.
Immigrant rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers who have opposed state and federal measures that cut health care for immigrants were hoping that Newsom’s 2026-2027 budget revision would delay the implementation of some of these changes and backfill federal funding cuts.
However, the governor unveiled a proposal that does not restore funding and instead adds more changes to healthcare access for immigrants.
“It actually goes even further and imposes additional harm and specifically targets immigrants’ access to care,” said Hannah Orbach-Mandel, health and immigration policy analyst at the California Budget & Policy Center.
Orbac-Mandel and other analysts say that the 2026 budget revision does not take any meaningful action to protect immigrants from the federal government’s cuts, as well as those made in last year’s state budget.
“No one in the country has done more, and no one has done better to address their anxiety and needs,” Newsom said, referring to the work he has done to expand insurance coverage for undocumented immigrants, at a press conference in Sacramento. “We are forced to make decisions, that’s called reality, that’s called math.”
Medi-Cal for undocumented immigrants
Newsom’s budget proposes increasing a monthly premium for undocumented immigrant adults already enrolled in the state’s Medi-Cal program from $30 to $50 starting in July 2027, a change projected to reduce general spending by $583.8 million. The budget revision also moves forward with dental benefits cuts for undocumented adults in July of this year.
Health providers in the Bay Area worry that a higher premium would make health care for low-income immigrant families unaffordable, forcing many to decide whether to pay for that or other basic needs.
“People are trying to barely sustain themselves,” said Claudia Rodriguez-Briones, community health education department manager at La Clínica de la Raza in Oakland. “If there are three family members that have Medi-Cal access, they have to decide whether or not they can pay $150 a month.” Citizens who are Medi-Cal recipients do not pay a premium.
There are other changes in how undocumented immigrant adults will access health care. Today, nearly 9 out of 10 Medi-Cal beneficiaries, including undocumented immigrants, receive health care services through a managed care plan like Kaiser or Alameda Alliance for Health. This means that the state pays an insurance company for the coordination of all of their care.
In this model, individuals not only access primary care doctors, but they can also access additional benefits, including case management, access to medically tailored meals, or housing assistance.
Because of a federal restriction on funding, California is moving undocumented immigrant adults off of the insurance plans and into a fee-for-service model, which will not include any additional benefits. This will take effect on January 1, 2027.
Rodriguez-Briones said under this restricted model la Clínica de la Raza won’t be able to be paid for its health navigation program, which currently helps immigrants navigate the health care system, and access food and transportation services.
“It’s going to be very hard,” she said. “It’s going to create many more barriers.”
Medi-Cal for lawfully present immigrants
H.R.1 eliminated federal funding to provide Medi-Cal coverage to lawfully present immigrants living with humanitarian protections, which includes refugees, asylees, and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. In California, this provision impacts more than 200,000 people who will lose access to comprehensive health coverage in October 2026. We discussed the impact of this change and the fight to preserve health coverage for these groups in last week’s newsletter.
Despite the federal restrictions, states can choose to continue covering lawfully present immigrants using state dollars. Newsom’s proposal didn’t backfill funding to keep them covered permanently, but it proposes to delay the disenrollment into phases. This means that they will continue to have unrestricted Medi-Cal until the end of the year. In January 2027, they will be moved to a fee-for-service system, and, in July 2027, they will be transitioned into emergency Medi-Cal, which only covers emergencies and pregnancy-related care.
“The Governor’s budget continues devastatingly cruel cuts to health care for the most vulnerable immigrant communities,” said California Pan-Ethnic Health Network Executive director Kiran Savage-Sangwan in a statement. “The effect would be letting nutritional deficiencies, PTSD, and infectious disease advance until emergency care is required.”
Lawmakers are now entering a negotiation period with the governor, which ends on June 15. Since Newsom released the budget, legislators and immigrant health advocates launched a campaign to pressure him to reconsider his proposal. A bill to undo the Medi-Cal freeze is moving through the Senate and some lawmakers are eyeing revenue sources to fund the program, including raising corporate taxes and charging fees to corporations with a high number of workers enrolled in Medi-Cal. Although the details are still unclear, I will be closely monitoring any new updates.
If you or someone you know has been impacted by this or similar policies, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at vsanchez@eltimpano.org. You can also contact me by phone or on Signal at 510-919-8593.
Thank you, see you next week.
—Vanessa G. Sánchez
Resource of the week
With federal healthcare cuts tied to H.R. 1 and proposed state budget restrictions, cities and counties are increasingly filling in the gaps in medical care for low-income immigrant residents. Our Spanish-language resource guide highlights programs like Healthy San Francisco in San Francisco, HealthPAC in Alameda County, and Basic Health Care in Contra Costa County that provide affordable health services to residents regardless of immigration status who cannot enroll in Medi-Cal or other private health insurance.
Do you know someone who would benefit from this information? Share it with them and let them know they can text us with any questions at (510) 800-8305.
Ear to the Ground
Hi, I’m Vanessa Flores, El Tímpano’s community reporter. El Tímpano’s text messaging (SMS) service reaches more than 6,500 Spanish-speaking immigrants across the Bay Area. Starting July 1, 2026, undocumented adults and certain other groups of immigrants enrolled in Medi-Cal will have their dental benefits restricted to emergency services only. Last week, we asked our SMS community how this change would affect them. Here are a few of the responses we received:
What about us adults who can’t afford to see a dentist? Personally, it makes me depressed to have bad dental health.
–Oakland resident
This change really affects me because [dental work] is so expensive! Last year, I was charged $2,000 for a cleaning at a clinic, and I didn’t have health insurance. I only got [Medi-Cal] a year ago, and it’s not fair that I won’t have [dental benefits] anymore.
–Oakland resident
Not having access to dental care is dangerous for the community.
–Oakland resident
It affects me a lot, since I’ve had root canals and crowns put on three of my molars, and I have to keep up with my dental cleanings for a period of time. After this, I don’t know what I’m going to do, since those treatments are very expensive.
–Merced resident
—Vanessa Flores
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