As federal and state budget debates put Medicaid and public health funding in the crosshairs, up to two million people in California could lose their Medi-Cal coverage as new requirements take effect, including work mandates, more frequent eligibility checks and restrictions on coverage for immigrants.

However, partners involved in the state's “Someone I Love” initiative are stepping up for the people they love: their patients.

One of those patients is María Flores, a 70-year-old Guatemalan woman, who is being treated at AltaMed PACE in the Watts neighborhood. She suffers from leg and knee problems that could require surgery, and three bad discs in her back.

“I live near the clinic, they pick me up and take me back home; and the nurses take care of me as if I were part of their family,” said Mrs. Flores. “They are very professional.”

Health advocates gathered to distribute care packages to nursing staff caring for seniors and to share community resources; In doing so, they seek to highlight the real impact that cuts in health care funding—as well as increased costs—can have on older adults like María Flores, their caregivers, and the frontline workers who support them daily.

The ‘Someone I Love’ initiative is a statewide public awareness and civic engagement campaign led by nonprofit organizations and foundations across California, including AltaMed, the California Primary Care Association, Disability Voices United, The California Wellness Foundation, The California Endowment, and the Archstone Foundation. The initiative invites Californians to share how healthcare costs and budget cuts are impacting them. the people closest to them.

Health experts warn that without a “humane” response from the state, the cost of providing care to those who lose their coverage will not disappear; it will simply shift to emergency departments, social safety net providers, and county-level programs, often with unequal access and at higher cost.

“We are worried, because it is something that is not going to be resolved overnight,” said Cynthia Romo, associate director of civic engagement at AltaMed. “We expect that many community [health] centers are going to have to close their doors.”

For this reason, -he added- "we have to see how we can follow the legal profession to have a voice in Sacramento and in Washington. What is happening will not only impact this community [of south central Los Angeles] but the entire state."

Any patient is treated at AltaMed, but the emergency rooms could collapse in the future.

"That's why it's so important for us to have our doors open, because we provide preventive health services, so that people don't end up in the emergency room. That's the problem," he said.

She described how, as a child, she suffered from asthma and her parents could not pay for doctors here.

"They took me to the emergency room, but it was quite expensive. Then they took me to Mexico to be treated by a pediatrician. How many thousands and millions of people do not have that opportunity to receive medical attention and we are going to see it very soon!"

Progress that is reversed?

California has made historic progress in expanding health coverage, reducing its uninsured rate between 2013 and 2024, from 14% to 5.3%.

However, recent changes in federal and state policies—including the Medicaid work requirements established in H.R. 1, six-monthly eligibility redeterminations and immigrant eligibility restrictions threaten to reverse these gains.

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) estimates that 1.8 million Californians could lose their Medi-Cal coverage in the coming years.

At the same time, the governor's fiscal year 2026-27 budget anticipates a 2027-28 state budget deficit of $22 billion; Much of this shortfall is attributable to the effects of the H.R. bill. 1 of the Trump administration, but also to the overall growth in health care spending.

These developments and underlying trends destabilize the health care system, increase pressure on health safety net providers, and pose significant health risks and consequences for those who fail to access health care.

"Never in our history have we seen anything like this. These are the largest cuts to health care in the history of the United States: a trillion dollars across the country, and they will end up affecting all of us," Mary Lou Fulton, director of communications for the California Wellness Foundation, told La Opinión.

“Maybe it affects you because your health insurance is more expensive; maybe because the clinic or doctor you go to can no longer care for you; or maybe because you are undocumented and too afraid to seek medical care; or maybe it is because you feel overwhelmed and confused by all the rules and regulations that are effectively driving people out of the system,” he added.

"We will pay the price in many ways, and the reason we are running this campaign called 'Someone I Love' is because we don't want to just talk about numbers and data; we want to talk about people."

In fact, Mary Lou Fulton's mother, who is 84 years old, suffers from dementia and receives dialysis.

"My mother is affected by all these decisions that certain people make; we must take this issue to the level of our families, communities and the people we love; I firmly believe that family is something that transcends politics," he said.

"We may disagree on political issues, but I will always defend you when you raise your voice for your mother; and I trust that you will also defend me. Therefore, we are trying to generate a conversation based on love, on family, on the defense of the people we care about, as well as their health and well-being. We hope that this will reach deep into those people who are not prioritizing our health, who do not perceive the human impact of their actions; and we trust that, through of our stories, they can see the world from a slightly different perspective.”

Two auxiliary nurses “from the heart”

Catherine Romero and Ruby Vallejo, auxiliary nurses at AltaMed, are concerned about the mental health of their patients, to whom they provide specialized care and emotional support.

“I love coming to work and greeting my patients with a smile; making them feel that we love them and that they are our responsibility when they are here [at the AltaMed community clinic].”

However, the reality of health cuts was considered "a very ugly thing, very painful and painful. We are all human, we all have a heart. We have to think about others, especially for our elders, who take up more attention. We are all going to reach a moment when we are going to grow old and need help."

“My biggest concern is the mental health of patients, especially those who live alone and lack family support,” said Catherine Romero. “They not only share their illnesses with us, but also their loneliness and need personalized attention and emotional support.”

Romero, who has four years of experience as an auxiliary nurse at AltaMed, appreciated that the “Someone I Love” campaign is a priority for her, because the responsibility and reward of being with her patients guides her to be with them, to make sure they have someone to talk to and to be there when they need it.

"Everything I do, I do it with a lot of love. I do it with all my heart. I love my career," he said.

Governor Gavin Newsom's priorities

Gov. Gavin Newsom's revised 2026-27 budget proposal lays the groundwork for budget negotiations as California faces growing fiscal pressures and major challenges in health care financing, a report from the American Medical Association says.

Key proposals include changes to Medi-Cal funding, new costs tied to federal policy changes under H.R. 1, an increase in premiums for certain enrollees, and a controversial Managed Care Organization (MCO) tax proposal that the CMA says conflicts with Proposition 35.

On May 14, the Newsom administration released its final budget proposal for fiscal year 2026-27, known as the “May Review.” The proposal includes $334.2 billion (of which $90.4 billion comes from the General Fund) for health and human services programs for the period 2026-27.