What is Medi-Cal?
Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program, which provides health insurance to individuals and families with low incomes, including many low-wage workers who can’t get affordable coverage at their job. It also covers people with disabilities and seniors who need help paying for what Medicare doesn’t cover, including nursing home care. In total, Medi-Cal covers 14.9 million people, more than one in three Californians.
Why many workers turn to Medi-Cal.
Low-wage workers are less likely to be offered job based coverage than higher-income workers or may not be able to afford the coverage they are offered at work. Many may be seasonal or hourly workers with fluctuating incomes. Medi-Cal also provides an important option for people to maintain coverage when they are between jobs and temporarily have a low income. Learn more and read the stories shared by working Californians enrolled in Medi-Cal in this 2020 report.
“People need to realize just because we are on Medi-Cal doesn’t mean we are not working. We are hard workers, we just cannot afford the health care system.”
— Medi-Cal Enrollee, from “Working Californians Enrolled in Medi-Cal Share Their Stories, 2020”
Nearly two in three nondisabled nonelderly adults in Medi-Cal work.
Of all nondisabled nonelderly adults (age 19–64) in Medi-Cal, 62% reported working full-time or part-time in 2021 (the latest data available). Over 8 in 10 (82%) reported being in a working family (meaning that at least one person is working full- or part-time).
Caretaking, school, and illness are common reasons cited for not working.
Among nondisabled nonelderly adults in Medi-Cal, 14% reported being a caretaker for a family member, 6% said they were going to school, and 9% reported an illness or disability. (In this instance, the disability likely did not meet the strict eligibility requirements for federal disability benefits, which include a disability of a year or more or one likely to cause death. Some enrollees could be experiencing a shorter-term disability.)
“I think it’d be important to understand that you could be working two, three, or four parttime jobs and still not have insurance provided by your employer. So there’s no way that your level of work is connected to your insurance in American society.”
— Medi-Cal Enrollee, from “Working Californians Enrolled in Medi-Cal Share Their Stories, 2020”
Nearly one in five of all California workers is enrolled in Medi-Cal. In some industries, it’s as high as one in three.
Almost 1 in 5 of all California workers (19%) was enrolled in Medi-Cal in 2023. That percentage is higher for many industries. Agriculture and the restaurant industry have the highest percentage of workers enrolled in Medi-Cal at 35% and 36%.
