New Report Spotlights Health Care Affordability Crisis in CA as Trump Health Care Cuts Enacted

For Immediate Release 
February 17, 2026 
Contact: Madison Torres, 916-990-7040

PAYING THE PRICE:

Sacramento, CA – A new report from the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN) details the depth and breadth of California’s health care affordability crisis, as deep federal and state health care cuts are further squeezing Californians financially as well as risking their health. The report also comes as Californians are demanding bold action from state leaders on health care affordability. The report makes several recommendations for state-level actions to make care more affordable and accessible. 

Read the report, “Paying the Price: Californians Struggle with the High Cost of Health Care” here.

 “High health care costs are forcing Californians to make impossible choices: going to the doctor and paying for food or rent. Getting care now, or putting it off and getting sicker. This affordability crisis will be compounded as federal and state policies push millions of working people out of health care coverage,” said Kiran Savage-Sangwan, CPEHN Executive Director. “State leaders must decide to meet the moment by both protecting access to coverage and addressing high, rising costs that are pushing families into medical debt.”

The report analyzes data from UCLA’s California Health Interview Survey, with three key findings about health care affordability in California:  

• Three million Californians struggle to pay their medical bills every year.  About 1 in 10 Californians report having problems paying or being unable to pay for their own or their family’s medical bills in the past 12 months. An even greater share of Californians who have low incomes, are uninsured, or are people of color report struggling to pay health care costs. 
  
• Californians owe more than $10.5 billion in medical debt. Californians who reported problems paying medical bills collectively owed more than $10.5 billion in medical debt in 2024. The analysis also revealed disparities in medical debt, with people with low and moderate incomes shouldering the largest shares of debt.
  
• One million Californians cannot afford basic necessities because of medical bills. Challenges paying medical bills significantly impacts our lives beyond access to health care. In 2024, nearly 4 in 10 (38.4%) Californians who struggled with medical bills also reported being unable to pay for basic necessities like food, rent, or heat due to their medical bills.

Compounding the existing, widespread affordability crisis, millions of Californians are facing massive premium increases or losing their health care coverage altogether due to recent federal and state policies. 

According to state leaders, as many as 2 million Californians with Medi-Cal may lose coverage and become uninsured due to H.R. 1. Covered California estimates that its enrollees will face an average 97% increase in monthly premiums starting January 1, 2026 because the Republican-led Congress refused to extend support for low- and middle-income families without employer coverage who buy insurance plans through the statewide marketplace. 

California’s recent state budget decisions will also result in significant coverage losses for immigrant communities. In the 2025-2026 budget, the Governor and Legislature eliminated or restricted key Medi-Cal benefits, phased in starting January 1, 2026, for undocumented and certain immigrant populations that could leave more than 1 million Californians without coverage. On top of this, Newsom’s budget proposal for 2026-27 eliminates comprehensive Medi-Cal coverage for an estimated 200,000 lawfully present immigrants, including assylees who are survivors of human trafficking and other tortures.  

“Devastating federal cuts and restrictions contained in HR 1 are designed to push struggling workers out of Medi-Cal coverage. On top of this, state leaders made deep cuts to care for immigrant communities,” the report authors cautioned. “While Californians with Medi-Cal and Covered California coverage will be hardest hit, all Californians are likely to face higher health care costs.” 

The report calls for California leaders to take bold steps to lower the costs driving higher premiums and out-of-pocket expenses with these recommended actions: 

• Reverse state Medi-Cal cuts, maintain full coverage for immigrants losing federal Medicaid funding, and reject proposals that would strip essential benefits from vulnerable communities.
  
• Strengthen the safety net by investing in Medi-Cal systems and culturally responsive navigation services to prevent coverage losses from administrative barriers, and pursue alternative revenue solutions to backfill lost federal funding.
  
• Control costs and consolidation by empowering the Attorney General to block anticompetitive mergers, strengthening oversight of private equity acquisitions, and enforcing cost growth targets to hold hospitals and insurers accountable.
  
• Shield consumers from excessive out of pocket costs by banning surprise hospital facility fees for routine and preventive care, capping excessive hospital payments, and strengthening oversight of health plan practices that limit access to care and push patients out of network.