This week of July 28th, Archstone Foundation is recognizing and celebrating 60 years of Medicaid – a cornerstone program that provides healthcare, home and community-based services, and social supports for older adults across the country. In California, over 1 million older adults depend on the state’s Medicaid program Medi-Cal, which pays for more than half of all nursing home stays in the state. In our state, over 1.7 million older adults and people with disabilities rely on Medi-Cal to pay for their health insurance, and many older persons with low-income would be bankrupt without it.
Medi-Cal enhances dignity and quality of life by providing needed services, like help with bathing, dressing, toileting, meals, and grocery shopping. This helps many delay or avoid moving to expensive institutional care, like a nursing home. Plus, we know people prefer to stay in their homes and communities. Medi-Cal helps ensure they can.
In July 2025, the federal administration passed legislation that will bring $880 billion in cuts to the Medicaid program. We see this as an assault on services and protections for older people, people with disabilities, and their caregivers.
Just last week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published its cost estimate for the Budget Reconciliation Act (H.R. 1) as signed into law, confirming that 10 million people, including older adults, will lose their health coverage. Our collective advocacy has never been more important. Archstone Foundation is proud to partner with California Health Care Foundation, The California Endowment, Blue Shield of California Foundation, the Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers, AltaMed, California Primary Care Association, and The California Wellness Foundation to bring attention and make sure all our voices are heard.
Let’s protect Medicaid so that it can continue to provide care for those who need it most. We urge you to stay informed: we’ve gathered some useful resources here.
To learn more about Medi-Cal, please visit our Medi-Cal 101 Webinars.
