Opinion: California families face deadly health care cuts. Billionaires can afford to pitch in.

"Doctors told us my grandson wouldn't live past three months, but they didn't know Elijah was capable of. Today he's 7 years old, stubborn as ever and fighting every day to prove them wrong. Elijah was born with cerebral palsy. Caring for him is a full-time, all-hands-on-deck operation that includes in-home nurses, physical and occupational therapy, school support and a small pharmacy's worth of medications."

"None of that care is optional. It's what keeps him alive, learning, laughing and giving me attitude. It's only possible because of Medi-Cal. Now California's health care system the system that keeps Elijah alive is being pushed to the brink. With $100 billion a year in federal health care cuts barreling toward Americans, California is expected to lose about $30 billion a year in Medi-Cal funding. Families like mine are living in a state of panic."

"There's a simple, fair, no-nonsense solution on the table, the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act. I'm one of thousands of Californians fighting for it, as the campaign collects signatures to place the proposal on the ballot this year. As a nursing assistant, union member and grandmother battling to keep a special needs child healthy, I don't have time for political games. I'm interested in what works, and this would work."

Elijah, born with cerebral palsy, requires full-time in-home nurses, physical and occupational therapy, school support, and multiple medications to live and learn. Those services are funded by Medi-Cal. Federal health-care cuts totaling $100 billion nationally could reduce California's Medi-Cal funding by about $30 billion annually, risking emergency-room availability and making essential medications unaffordable; medications alone could cost over $5,000 per month. The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act proposes a one-time 5% emergency tax on Californians with more than $1 billion in wealth, spread over five years, to raise revenue to avert cuts, though tax-law loopholes may limit collections.

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