Officials say the scale of the coming cuts is unprecedented. Roughly 23,000 seniors and low-income adults with mental and physical impairments in Los Angeles County alone will be forced to either pay out of pocket, seek other care or do without.

“To my knowledge, cuts to this degree have never been done before,” said Steve Wallace, a researcher at UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research who has studied aging issues and long-term care for more than 30 years. “Nobody really knows what will happen to people when these services are terminated.”

Earlier this year, state lawmakers eliminated Adult Day Health Care as an optional Medi-Cal benefit, saving the state about $85 million to plug budget holes. The change goes into effect Dec. 1.

Advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit hoping to stop the cuts, and Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, has proposed legislation seeking to delay the funding cuts. However, letters informing Medi-Cal patients of the change are being mailed this month.

Already, 17 of the state’s 300 adult day care centers have closed in California, including two in Orange County.  Read Article