Hundreds head to Sacramento to rally for health care reform

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Hundreds of local health care employees are on their way to Sacramento to fight for better health care for low-income Californians.

On Tuesday morning, hundreds of health care workers and unions gathered in Northeast Fresno. They loaded buses headed for the State Capitol. They will join hundreds of others for a massive rally called "Medi-Cal Matters" to fully fund Medi-Cal, which provides health care to millions of children, seniors and people with disabilities. About 30 percent of the state is enrolled in Medi-Cal.

Workers believe people, including residents in Fresno, have difficulty getting access to the health care they so desperately need.

"People don't get appointments right away. The appointments take four or five months before they can see a specialty, and so we just want to fix that so the children and the seniors can get taken care of," said Pauline Hutton, a nurse from Fresno.

The rally is sponsored by We Care for California -- a coalition of doctors, nurses, hospitals, workers, dentists, first responders, insurers and other health care leaders. More than 5,000 Californians are expected to attend.