Coalition #Health4All rally against Gov Newsom’s proposed Medi-Cal cuts
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) - Healthcare and immigrant activists came together in Salinas, calling on local leaders to say no to Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts to subsidized healthcare.
The coalition #Health4All rallied outside the office of State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, who was not in his office at the time.
Protesters want him, along with the rest of the assembly, to stand up to Newsom, whose budget proposal last week included hundred-dollar monthly premiums to Medi-Cal coverage… and a moratorium on new Medi-Cal applications. This comes as the state is facing a budget crisis.
"Certainly California is facing a budget deficit, but that is not driven by providing health care to immigrant families. That is driven by our failure to appropriately tax wealthy corporations and CEOs, which is the appropriate way to balance the budget, not on the backs of vulnerable communities," California Pan-Ethnic Health Network's executive director Kiran Savage-Sangwan said.
#Health4All estimates a million immigrants would lose coverage due to the Medi-Cal premium, with the Salinas Valley being one of the hardest-hit areas in the state.
California’s legislature will finalize the budget on June 15, with the coalition saying they’ll continue to put pressure.
Their next stop will be another rally in Sacramento next Monday.
