Senate Republicans are once again taking a blowtorch to California’s ever-expanding Medicaid empire—this time over allegations that taxpayers are footing the bill for everything from “spiritual interventions” to, yes, even exorcism-adjacent practices.
At a recent Senate grilling, John Kennedy confronted Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over reports that California’s Medicaid program—known as Medi-Cal—is reimbursing faith-based and tribal healing services that sound more like something out of a folklore handbook than a government billing code.
“California’s got 12% of the population in the last ten years,” Kennedy told Blanche. “They’re responsible for half of these new so-called health providers to provide exorcisms and other things. Now, what the hell are we doing about it? Why has this gone on for so long?”
“Some states like California… they see this as free money, don’t they?”
Sen. John Kennedy calls out reports that California’s Medicaid program reimburses providers for tribal prayers and exorcisms:
SEN. KENNEDY: “California will actually pay a health care provider, I didn’t… pic.twitter.com/cbpTydxlWK
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 19, 2026
That line alone pretty much summed up the mood in Washington: disbelief, frustration, and a growing sense that California’s healthcare bureaucracy is spinning further and further out of control.
According to reporting that first surfaced in The Wall Street Journal, Medi-Cal has expanded coverage in recent years to include what the state calls traditional healing practices—services tied to tribal medicine, including ceremonies, rituals, herbal remedies, music therapy, and other so-called “spiritual interventions.”
In 2024, the program formally broadened reimbursement rules to include these services for eligible recipients within tribal communities. The move was pitched as culturally restorative care—part of a broader effort to incorporate indigenous healing traditions into modern healthcare delivery.
The scrutiny is landing at a particularly uncomfortable time for Sacramento. Medi-Cal spending has reportedly more than doubled since 2019, soaring from roughly $100.7 billion to a projected $222 billion in 2026. And just last week, federal officials froze $1.4 billion in funding for California home health and hospice programs after an anti-fraud review flagged an estimated $600 million in suspected Medicaid fraud.
Governor Gavin Newsom has defended the expansion of tribal healing coverage as part of a broader effort to correct historical wrongs against Native communities. In announcing the policy, his office said the changes were meant to support “helping heal the historical wounds inflicted on tribes.”
Newsom himself has argued that the approach reflects long-standing inequities rooted in the treatment of Indigenous peoples, saying: “Like many of the issues that plague successive generations of Native people, those inequities can be traced back to the historical atrocities the U.S. inflicted on tribes across the country. By supporting greater access to traditional medicine and healing, we are taking another step toward a healthier, brighter future.”
State officials say traditional healers must be recognized through tribal affiliation and health provider contracts, though definitions around “natural helpers” appear looser, applying to trusted tribal members involved in community-based care.
What remains murky—at least publicly—is how much Medi-Cal money is actually flowing into these services, or how closely such claims are audited.
(Video: PBS NewsHour/YouTube)
