Elizabette Guéçamburu, assisted by her caretaker Lexi Marsh, does her circulation exercises in the living room of her home outside of Patterson on Oct. 16, 2026. Guéçamburu is afraid that recently passed state Medi-Cal cuts will disqualify her from benefits. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters
Julia Feinberg feels like she’s living in a sinister version of Groundhog Day. For the second year in a row California lawmakers have made it tougher for seniors and people with disabilities to qualify for state-funded health benefits.
Feinberg, 37, who has a degenerative neuromuscular disorder, said without Medi-Cal she would be confined to a nursing home rather than living and working as a therapist in Oakland.
“We keep having to have the same fight over and over and over again,” Feinberg said. She requires a power wheelchair and about 19 hours of caregiving each day, which Medi-Cal covers.
California is cutting Medi-Cal after a decade of expansion, part of sweeping federal and state cuts that experts estimate will kick more than 2.2 million Californians off coverage in the next four years, doubling the state’s uninsured rate.
The latest cut came in June, when state leaders approved a budget that will lower the asset…
