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San Francisco Board of Supervisors Passes Resolution to Preserve Medi-Cal Dental Funding

  • Mar 10
  • 2 min read

Updated: Apr 27

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today passed a resolution calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators to reject proposed cuts to Medi-Cal Dental funding for kids. In his January 2026 state budget proposal, the governor proposed eliminating $362 million from Medi-Cal Dental, including $144 million that supports dental services for low-income children. The proposal would also result in the loss of approximately $180 million in federal matching funds.


“The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recognizes that Medi-Cal Dental is often the only way low-income children can see a dentist and get access to essential care. In some cases, we provide routine cleanings, but in others, we are treating painful dental disease that affects a child’s ability to go to school, sleep, and feel pain-free and confident when they smile,” said Dr. Jeff Jacobson, a Sacramento-based dentist. “Every child deserves access to high-quality, preventive and restorative dental care. Losing this coverage would eliminate health access for too many of California’s kids.”


The board’s resolution, introduced by Supervisor Alan Wong and co-sponsored by Supervisors Danny Sauter, Jackie Fielder, Chyanne Chen, Myrna Melgar, Connie Chan, and Rafael Mandelman, recognizes the challenges that reducing Medi-Cal Dental funding for kids imposes on families throughout the state.


"Dental care is healthcare, especially for children. Cutting Medi-Cal Dental would make it harder for kids to get the preventive care that keeps them healthy, in school, and out of emergency rooms,” said San Francisco District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong. “In San Francisco, where nearly one in three children relies on Medi-Cal, these cuts would hit families who already face the greatest barriers to care. Reducing funding for children’s dental services may save a tiny fraction of the state budget on paper, but it would come at a much greater cost to kids’ health and wellbeing. We should be protecting access to basic care, not taking it away."


The resolution notes that Medi-Cal Dental provides critical access to preventive and restorative dental care for millions of low-income children across the state, including in San Francisco. Moreover, the document notes that the cuts wouldn’t actually save public money but instead would shift costs to more expensive care settings like emergency rooms where visits for dental issues commonly cost more than $2,400 per visit, increasing long-term healthcare expenditures for state and local governments.


Many families enrolled in Medi-Cal Dental must travel long distances or wait months for a dentist appointment. California already ranks among the worst states for pediatric dental disease, behind Alabama and Florida. The reductions included in the governor’s January state budget proposal are projected to lower funding rates by upwards of 40% below current levels, which would force dentists out of the program and further limit options for families covered by Medi-Cal.


About Hands Off Kids’ Health:


“Hands Off Kids’ Health” is a growing coalition of dentists, educators, farmworkers, community leaders, and local elected officials calling on state lawmakers to reject Governor Newsom’s proposed cuts to Medi-Cal Dental for children.


 
 
 

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