Medi-Cal needs reliable funding. This California ballot measure could make it happen

When I completed my family medicine residency nearly 20 years ago, one thing was clear: underserved communities needed better access to health care.

This conviction brought me back to my community in South Central Los Angeles in 2007 to start a community clinic. It’s why I’m passionately endorsing Proposition 35 .

For me, Prop. 35 is straightforward. It addresses California’s urgent health care needs by securing dedicated, ongoing funding to protect and expand access for the more than 14 million Californians who depend on Medi-Cal , including half of all children in our state.

Crucially, it does this without raising taxes. It merely requires that the billions of dollars generated from a special tax on health plans every year gets spent on Medi-Cal, helping increase pay for providers .

At Universal Community Health Center, we’ve built our clinic on the belief that health care is a fundamental right — everyone should have access to it, regardless of their race, age, gender or ability to pay. While California has done more than any other state to expand Medi-Cal eligibility and benefits, the harsh reality is that eligibility doesn’t guarantee access to doctors, specialists or clinics.

As a family physician, I know the importance of proactive health care. Regular access to a provider means you’re more likely to catch health issues early, treat them before they become life-threatening and discuss treatment options with your care team.

As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

But our health care system is in crisis. Many patients, believing they aren’t worthy of preventative care, skip regular checkups, opting instead for costly and time-consuming emergency room visits.

This is why we need Prop. 35.

Prop. 35 will fund access to primary and specialty care, community health clinics, hospitals, dentists, emergency rooms, family planning and mental health services. Medi-Cal will mean more than just an insurance card — it will mean actual access to health care.

Prop. 35 will also help clinics like ours hire and train more staff to educate our community about the importance of preventative care, and expand hours for referral coordinators who connect patients to specialists. The funding for graduate medical education, workforce training and community health workers will make this possible.

When patients come to me after years without primary care, they often need referrals to specialists, such as cardiologists for heart conditions, endocrinologists for diabetes or respiratory specialists for asthma. We’ve all experienced long waits for specialists, but underfunding means Medi-Cal patients wait months — even for life-threatening conditions.

Prop. 35 will give providers and community clinics the stability needed to offer the care Californians deserve, ensuring that funds allocated for health care actually go toward health care.

Strong accountability measures in Prop. 35 prevent the state from diverting funds for non-health care purposes, as lawmakers did with this year’s state budget . It mandates independent audits and requires that 99% of the funds be spent on patient care, not bureaucracy.

Prop. 35 is about fulfilling the promise of equitable health care across the state. It’s a promise that requires dedicated resources to protect and expand access for everyone, especially those who need it most.

Dr. Edgar Chavez is a family medicine physician and founder of University Community Health Center in Los Angeles.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Medi-Cal needs reliable funding. This California ballot measure could make it happen