Unemployment Insurance Code section 19000.3
(a)
Federal House Resolution 1 (Public Law 119-21) was passed on a partisan vote and signed by President Donald J. Trump on Independence Day, 2025.(b)
H.R. 1 made the largest cuts to the Medicaid program in history.(c)
H.R. 1 made these cuts in order to fund the largest tax breaks for big corporations in history, and those tax breaks amount to $900 billion in additional tax giveaways to profitable corporations at the expense of health insurance for low-income Americans.(d)
H.R. 1 gave these tax breaks to corporations regardless of whether they pay their workforce poverty wages, forcing their workforce to turn to safety net programs such as the Medicaid program.(e)
One of the most significant cuts in the Medicaid program, known as the Medi-Cal program in California, was a cut resulting from a new work and community engagement requirement.(f)
Data shows that 92 percent of adults who receive Medicaid benefits are working and are getting paid poverty wages.(g)
A 2022 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report notes that, despite the rhetoric, work requirements are not likely to lead to increased employment unless paired with targeted work supports, such as childcare and transportation.(h)
Being denied health care does not make anyone better at finding a job, keeping a job, or getting more hours at the job they already have.(i)
Being threatened with losing health care does not help the millions of working adults who currently receive Medi-Cal benefits to increase their wages enough to afford nongovernment-funded health care or secure a job that has adequate health coverage.(j)
A growing body of research shows a healthy workforce provides businesses with a competitive advantage.(k)
When a big corporation relies on Medi-Cal to provide their employees with health insurance, they are relying on what amounts to taxpayer subsidies to gain the competitive advantage of a healthy workforce.(l)
The Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office have both reported that growing Medi-Cal costs are a leading factor in the state’s long-term structural deficit.(m)
In large part due to the negative impacts of HR 1 on the state’s finances, the state can no longer afford to maintain current subsidies for big corporations in the form of paying full costs of their employees’ enrollment in the Medi-Cal program.(n)
If HR 1 remains in effect, legislation will be considered as early as 2027 requiring big corporations to pay their fair share for their employees’ health insurance and reduce the taxpayer burden of big corporations’ employees being enrolled in Medi-Cal.
Source:
Section 19000.3, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=UIC§ionNum=19000.3. (updated Jul. 6, 2026; accessed Jul. 20, 2026).
