Termination of Medi-Cal Benefits

In 1982 California terminated Medi-Cal benefits for the state's 270,000 medically indigent adults and transferred responsibility for their care to the county system. A medically indigent adult is a person who previously received Medi-Cal benefits because of economic or medical need but who was not eligible for assistance from a federal program for the aged, blind, or disabled or for families with dependent children. Although the counties were required to provide care for medically indigent adults, they were not required to provide care free of charge.