Daily Business Report: Thursday, April 10, 2025
Dentists turned them away. Now, disabled Californians are gaining new access to care
By Kristin Hwang | CalMatters
Martha Rodriguez spent years searching for a dentist. Several turned her away because she has Down syndrome, and they felt they could not accommodate her.
Her plight, “broke my heart,” said Dr. Maxmillian Chambers, an Imperial County dentist who agreed to treat her.
Today, she is one of his favorite patients at the Innercare community health clinic in El Centro, and she’s inspiring a new investment in care.
Thanks in part to a new state grant, Chambers is opening a dental surgical center for special needs patients in Imperial County and the surrounding areas. The $5 million from the state will cover construction costs for eight chairs and two surgical theaters.
Fake student aid: California colleges detect more fraudsters stealing millions
By Adam Echelman| CalMatters
For years, scammers have targeted community colleges across the state, posing as students in order to steal money from scholarships or government financial aid.
Recent state reports suggest the problem is getting worse, and college leaders say they’re worried that the Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S.
Department of Education could hamper fraud prevention and investigations.
In 2021, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office reported that about 20% of college applicants were likely fake. In January 2024, the state said it was up to about 25%.
Now it’s around 34%, according to the most recent data from the last calendar year. “Those are all the ones that are stopped,” said John Hetts, executive vice chancellor for the data team at the chancellor’s office.
DOGE Needs to Take a Deep Dive into California’s Bankrupted Medi-Cal Program
By Katy Grimes | California Globe
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Medi-Cal program is insolvent.
Newsom just confessed last month that California’s Medi-Cal is insolvent. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program, a public health insurance program which provides needed health care services for low-income individuals. As California Congressman Kevin Kiley noted, “the cost of Newsom’s policy of giving free coverage to every illegal immigrant in the state has ballooned to $9.5 billion, and he’s now asked for a $3.4 billion “loan” just to continue making payments for this month.”
That number has grown: Newsom now needs to borrow $6.2 billion to cover Medi-Cal expenses to cover the massive shortfall in Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, free to low-cost health coverage for low-income individuals and families, “regardless of their immigration status,” the Globe recently reported.
And that is because Gov. Newsom expanded Medi-Cal to cover all illegal aliens. The bills are coming due and Newsom is overdrawn – with no checks left.
