As many as 3.4 million Californians were able to lose their state insurance in the Medi-Cal under the US Senate Budget Bill, Gavin Newsom said on Friday.

Newsom said the proposed cuts to healthcare in the ‘one big, beautiful bill’, a cornerstone of President Trump’s second -term agenda, could force the closure of struggling rural hospitals, reduce the government’s assistance for those in need and premiums for people relying on the California, the state’s affordable assurance.

“It’s devastating,” Newsom said. “I know that the word is often used too much in this workline, but it is in many ways an underestimation of how reckless and cruel and damaged it is.”

Medicaid provides health insurance for about 1 in 5 Americans and generally uses income, rather than employment, as a condition for entries.

About 15 million Californians, more than a third of the state, are on Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid, with some of the highest percentages in rural provinces supporting Trump in the November election. More than half of California children receive coverage for healthcare through Medi-Cal.

The Senate still discusses its account of the bill. But the current version would require many Medicaid recipients to prove every six months that they work, voluntarily or attend at least 80 hours a month. The states will be expected to draw up their job verification systems by the end of 2026, just after the mid -term election. States that do not set up these systems may lose the federal Medicaid funding.

Republican home speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last month that the purpose of the policy was to encourage poor Americans to make a contribution and return the dignity of work to young men who have to work instead of playing video games all day. “

The non -party congressional budget office estimated this month that the requirements over a decade would cut about $ 344 billion on Medicaid spending and leave 4.8 million more people unsecured.

Health policy experts warn that job requirements can lead to people who are eligible, but cannot prove it, and lose their benefits.

Newsom said 5.1 million people in California will have to go through the progress of the work verification and that about one -third is likely to meet the requirements.

The other two-thirds will ‘go through the labyrinth of manual verification’, Newsom said.

He said 3 million people in California could lose cover by the new Medicaid work requirements, and 400,000 more could lose their insurance if they had to re-verify every six months. Newsom said the estimate of the state is based on the number of people who downloaded Medicaid in New Hampshire and Arkansas after the states briefly implemented their own work requirements.

Last year, California became the first state in the country to offer low -income immigrants healthcare. The expansion, approved by Newsom and the democratically-led legislature, cost the state billions and shared criticism of Republicans.

Minority leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City), who previously called on Newsom to return coverage, said on social media on Friday that Newsom and democratic legislative leaders “eradicated” the healthcare system.

Newsom’s budget proposal in May suggested significant cuts to the healthcare program for undocumented immigrants, including the freezing point of new entries in 2026, which requires adults to pay monthly $ 100 premiums and cut full dental coverage.

Legislators eventually agreed to require undocumented immigrant -grids between 19 and 59 annually $ 30 per month to pay premiums from July 2027. Their plan takes on Newsom’s entry roof, but gives people three months to reapply if their coverage expires instead of immediately cutting off their qualifying. Democrats agreed to reduce full dental coverage for immigrants for uneducated adults, but delayed the change until July 1, 2026.

In Congress, the GOP Bill could also pose a serious threat to 16 struggling hospitals in 14 rural provinces, which in 2023 received a $ 300 million lifeline in interest-free loans, Newsom said.

He said the Republican members of the California congress who supported the bill and represented rural parts of California, including Central Valley Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), is an already vulnerable system. ‘

Some senators insist on changing a requirement that requires states to freeze and cut half of the tax they impose on Medicaid providers, reducing a major source of funding for rural hospitals.

Michelle Baass, the director of the California Department of Health Care Services, said change could be “fatal to the many hospitals in rural and critical access that are already financially tense.”

Newsom said that the cuts could in total threaten California’s progress in reducing the part of residents without health insurance, which is about 6.4%.