California Expanded Medi-Cal to Unauthorized Residents. The Results Are Mixed. - KFF Health News

Medi-Cal's annual spending now stands at $157 billion , serving about 15 million low-income residents.

Of those, about 1.5 million are immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization, costing an estimated $6.4 billion .

Advocates for immigrants praise the Golden State for an expansion that has helped reduce the uninsured rate to a record low 6.4% .

Providers and hospitals caution that the state hasn’t expanded its workforce adequately.

The San Joaquin Valley, where López Zamora lives, has the lowest supply of specialists in the state.

Nearly 6 million people in California live in a total of 611 primary care shortage areas, a KFF analysis says.

Douglas Lopez says Medi-Cal gave him the dental treatment he couldn't afford.

Daniel Garcia , 39 , has gout, a type of inflammatory arthritis that can cause intense pain and swelling in his joints.

“It can help save health care costs because conditions are no longer going untreated for a long time, in which case they may become more complex and expensive to treat,” Pillai said. This article is part of “ Faces of Medi-Cal ,” a series exploring the impact of the state’s safety-net health program on enrollees..