40% of Californians are underserved meaning they lack access to a health home. That is over 15 million people. Elica Health Centers is one of 200 Community Health Centers trying to provide access to a comprehensive system of care for the underserved in our communities. California has chosen to extend Medi-Cal coverage to all eligible Californians, but the State has not provided for any support for capacity expansion or workforce recruitment & development, so only about 40% of the underserved are able to access care. Elica focuses on serving the homeless and immigrants among the mainstream underserved. These people are among the most vulnerable of all Californians. Please support Proposition 35 to help expand capacity and access to whole person primary care services.
Proposition 35 is vital to Bartz Altadonna Community Health Center (BACHC) because it directly impacts our ability to continue providing high-quality, accessible care to the underserved populations we serve in the Antelope Valley. As a community health center, we rely on sustainable funding to offer critical services like primary care, behavioral health, maternal care, and specialty care to those who need it most. Prop 35 helps BACHC continue to fulfill its mission to provide compassionate, quality care to our community. Most importantly, it ensures that these critical funds are protected and cannot be redirected for non-healthcare purposes, giving us the stability we need to plan for the future and continue serving our patients with excellence.
For too long, critical funding has been diverted away from California’s health care delivery system. Prop 35 will impose strong accountability standards and ensure that funding intended for California’s health care system actually goes toward protecting and expanding access to care. We look forward to talking to voters in coming months about the importance of Yes on 35.
I am a primary care, Family Medicine doctor that has been practicing in the underserved area of the High Desert in San Bernardino County, for the past 22 years. In that amount of time, I have seen the significant growth in the Medi-Cal population with a significant decline in physicians and especially in physicians that accept Medi-Cal. In my area, nearly 90% of all children are covered under Medi-Cal and cannot find a doctor since so many have quit taking Medi-Cal due to the severely inadequate reimbursement, making it impossible to keep their doors open. Even more worrisome, is the complete lack of specialty care that accepts Medi-Cal, resulting in the need to then send patients an hour and a half away to the county facility where they may wait months for much needed help. If something is not done to improve and then maintain the reimbursement rates for Medi-Cal in California, I fear the entire system will collapse.
When people have access to health care, the whole community thrives, which is why we are proud supporters of Proposition 35. The current health care crisis means doctors’ offices are closing, hospitals are shuttering and health care workers are being laid off, all which have devastating impacts on the health of our community and our local economy. Prop 35 will provide dedicated funding to protect and improve our health care system.
The importance of this ballot initiative is finally being serious about investing in the viability of the Medi-Cal system. The MCO tax literally touches every aspect of the Medi-Cal system, and it can’t be at the mercy of year-to-year budget crises.
I am an ear doctor at a rural tertiary care center in Central California. Proposition 35 is crucial in helping my patients gain access to care that they desperately need.
Prop 35 will support PCPs and specialists so that patients get more timely care before their disease gets bad enough to visit me in my Emergency Department. This will help to reduce wait times in emergency rooms and urgent care facilities as less patients need them. Prop 35 will stabilize hospital funding to reduce facility closures. My area alone has witnessed multiple hospital closures since I started here in the 90's with the remaining hospitals having increasing financial struggles. Prop 35 will fund more graduate medical education residency programs to address the physician shortage that is especially severe in most parts of California.
Each day, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals across the state of California witness firsthand the current deficiencies in our healthcare system. Chronic underfunding in the industry has systematically exhausted EMS and complicated the delivery of quality emergency care. It’s time the voters of California have a say in the future of this critical infrastructure; we join our partners in healthcare in urging voters in California to approve the Protect Access to Care Initiative, which would help ensure that the healthcare system and providers have the tools and resources needed to deliver timely, quality care to all.
I am a physician who has been in practice for 40 years. I have done the best job I can to deliver the very best care for my patients. I am struggling and I need help. I don’t believe I can continue staying in practice for long. If I quit there will be many who will suffer.
I am an ER doctor in downtown San Diego, where we see a large population of patients with Medi-Cal insurance. One of our biggest challenges in the ER is getting the right follow-up care for patients after they go home from the ER. This means if I diagnose a patient with a seizure disorder or a broken wrist, it may be weeks or even months before they can see a neurologist for their seizures or an orthopedic surgeon for their wrist fracture. Prop 35 will increase Medi-Cal rates, which will increase the number of physicians who accept Medi-Cal, ensuring better access to specialty care for all of our patients.
California is roughly 42nd out of 50 states in reimbursement per person in the Medicaid system. Given the high cost of living in California, it is essential that Prop 35 pass to help us fund care and keep our patients out of the emergency rooms by meeting their needs in providing timely and effective care.
Our patient's are waiting months to see specialist, often requiring the providers to intervene and call specialists offices themselves for urgent matters. Medi-Cal reimbursement has not kept up with these raising costs, leaving doctors with the inability to hire enough staff to accommodate the need for the increasing demands. The end results are patients not receiving the care they need.
El Proyecto del Barrio is proud to stand with the coalition in support of the Protect Access to Care Initiative. The measure, which is now officially eligible for the November 2024 ballot, will pave the way for a future where access to quality healthcare is not just a privilege, but a fundamental right. By making a permanent investment in our healthcare system, it lays the groundwork for a more resilient and equitable healthcare system that can meet the needs of generations to come.
Prop 35 will improve the funding needed to expand access to specialty providers allowing for more timely diagnoses and treatment.
We need to provide access to high quality care for our communities across California. We have a clinician shortage. As our population continues to grow, we will need more physicians and advanced practice clinicians to care for our communities - supporting more graduate education programs can help us to meet the growing demand for care.
Local emergency rooms are crowded with newly-covered Medi-Cal patients who do not have access to a primary care physician.
As a hospital based physician, I often have patients who are forced to come to the hospital for care due to inadequate outpatient options for parents with MediCal. Proposition 35 will help improve access and equity for a large number of Californians.
Prop 35 is key to continue to fund graduate medical education which helps address the physician shortage for the inland Empire.
Our emergency departments are overwhelmed with patients whose MediCal insurance does not cover the cost of care. Please protect access to care for them with a yes on 35.
With more than 5 million children enrolled in Medi-Cal and over half of all births in California covered by the program, Medi-Cal is essential for ensuring health and well-being for our children and families. Medi-Cal is under significant strain, resulting in children having inadequate access to physicians, dentists, and other health care providers. This initiative is crucial for making effective school-based health care financially viable, strengthening our overall healthcare system, and securing a healthier future for California’s children and families.
As an emergency physician in the Central Valley, a majority of patients seeking care are MediCal insured and face significant obstacles to accessing both primary and specialty care. The result of chronic underfunding of MediCal is worse patient outcomes from delays in care and emergency departments treating late stage complications of chronic illness that could have been prevented. Our patients deserve better.
I am the first african-american endodontist practicing in state of California. I am a proponent for Prop 35. From 2013 to current, I have always provided endodontic care to the underserved via medi-cal/denti-cal insurance programs.
I am a pediatrician, and the majority of my patients have Medi-Cal. Provider reimbursement must be improved to allow access to the high quality care the children deserve.
Prop 35 will improve the healthcare for all Californians. Access to healthcare for MediCal recipients (which includes up to half of children in California!) will improve. People will be able to get routine, preventative care, and use emergency services less. Wait times for urgent appointments and emergency services will improve. Prop 35 is a great step in this direction.
I am an emergency physician who witnesses the failings of our outpatient system every day. It is even more heartbreaking when I diagnose patients with a serious medical condition and I do not know whether they will be able to arrange reliable follow up because there are not enough physicians who can accept Medi-Cal and still keep their practices open at the current reimbursement rates. That is why physicians have to limit the number of Medi-Cal patients that they can accept within their practice, despite wanting to see more. California keeps taking money away from patients by redirecting Medi-Cal money to fix other issues and then blaming healthcare providers for not being able to keep their doors open and pay their staff at the rates at California reimburses.
I am only alive now because I have access to MediCal.
Medi-Cal was absolutely vital in providing access to care at the FQHC I worked at. Medi-Cal saved our patient's lives, while at the same time saving the state money by offering preventative care. I believe this initiative is absolutely vital. It is a simple and direct approach to promoting the health of California’s most vulnerable citizens.
MediCal has kept me healthy and safe for almost half my life; I literally would not have had health care at all without it. I know many people in my community who rely on Medi-Cal. We cannot afford for it to go away. Medi-Cal is at the heart of California.
With some of the highest Medi-Cal rates across the state, community health centers are pivotal in ensuring people have access to the care they need and deserve. Community health centers are the backbone of our community and Prop 35 will ensure we are able to stay open and expand the essential care we offer to California’s most vulnerable.