Medi-Cal Is a lifeline for small businesses

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OPINION – Before I started my small business last year, one of the biggest barriers was figuring out how to access healthcare. I was ready to leave a firm where I had worked for several years to pursue my entrepreneurial dream. But exiting wasn’t as easy as just quitting – my job provided health insurance. If I left to pursue my small business full-time, I was worried I would no longer be able to afford coverage through the ACA Marketplace. Thankfully, my family and I have been able to access health coverage through Medicaid, which is administered as Medi-Cal in California. In fact, if it wasn’t for Medi-Cal, I would have had to choose between having health insurance or starting my own business.

Medi-Cal is a crucial lifeline for new small business owners like me who need the security of health coverage to become full-time entrepreneurs. As is the case with many other new small businesses, it’s taking time for my business to become profitable. With personal expenses and inconsistent income while trying to build up a client base, private insurance is out of reach. Medi-Cal is the most viable and only true option for my family and I. It has been especially helpful for my children as the program has allowed me to take them for emergency medical visits when needed.

Once I am able to invest profits back into my business, I am excited about the opportunity to begin hiring employees so I can provide quality jobs with benefits to my community. Programs like Medicaid, and the recent expansions in California to Medi-Cal, give me peace of mind to know that I could ensure that I have a healthy workforce without significantly impacting my bottom line. For now, I have the peace of mind to know that myself and my family will continue to have access to quality health coverage. I can focus on growing my business instead of worrying about how a surprise medical bill could harm us.

That’s why I’m alarmed about the massive cut to Medicaid in the budget package that the president signed into law. More than half of California’s $161 billion Medi-Cal budget is paid for with federal funds; the proposed cuts would gut the program. California is already struggling with the Medi-Cal budget this year, so any reduction in federal funds is likely to shrink benefits and increase costs for recipients. This could also cause between 2.3 million to 3.5 million Medi-Cal recipients to lose their coverage altogether.

If my family and I lost our Medi-Cal coverage, I would have to think very seriously about closing my business and returning to work for someone else, mainly so we could access healthcare. Healthcare is an unquestionable essential, and we must not allow it to impede the growth of small businesses. I’m very disappointed that federal policymakers drastically cut this vital program that I rely on to pursue my entrepreneurial dream and will need to bring jobs to my community.

Guillermo Jimenez is the owner of Tapezco Financial Services in Bakersfield, California. 

Capitol Weekly welcomes Opinions on California public policy or politics. Click here for more information about submitting an Op-Ed