Governor Gavin Newsom clearly doesn’t get medical care for his family from a physician that still accepts Medi-Cal patients.

If he did, he never would have opened the floodgates last year that are stressing many of California’s health care providers.

Newsom’s decision to extend Medi-Cal coverage to all illegal migrants regardless of age added 1.6 million people to the program.

It’s in the news because the surge of coverage for illegals is a major reason for the state’s $12 billion budget deficit.

There is a $6.2 billion shortfall in the Medi-Cal budget of which $2.7 billion is attributed directly to Newsom opening it up to all illegal immigrants.

Before that, illegal immigrants over 65 and those under 18 could enroll.

And of course, there has always been a provision that illegals, regardless of their age, could access emergency care and pregnancy services.

All told, Newsom’s administration has indicated California is spending $8.5 billion this year alone in general fund revenue to cover Medi-Cal for illegals.

But that is not the real concern one should worry about, although spending money California does not have — or would have to cut from other programs — is a major issue.

Newsom’s actions last year have accelerated the continued deterioration of the Medi-Cal health care network.

Due to already low reimbursement rates, more and more physicians have stopped taking Medi-Cal patients.

Closed systems such as Kaiser that take Medi-Cal in many California counties, don’t exist everywhere.

Why that matters is managed healthcare systems are in a better position to weather low reimbursement and unreasonably late state payments.

Add that to the already existing shortage of medical professionals, especially in parts of the state away from the urban coastal areas, and the a Medi-Cal “safety net” is moving faster toward being ripped apart.

Newsom’s opening the door essentially tossed gasoline on the smoldering mess Medi-Cal has become with less and less doctors participating and more and more patients.

Sacramento, despite election year lip service, rarely addresses reforms. And when they do, they never do the grunt work follow through to make them work.

What was Newsom thinking when he dumped another 1.6 million patients on a strained system that is losing doctors?

It certainly wasn’t about the poor Californians who were born here or have become legal citizens who follow the rules and often labor at essential but low paying jobs that mean that can’t afford medical coverage.

They now have less access and longer wait times thanks to the number of those covered by Medi-Cal surging by 1.6 million to more than 15 million in less than a year.

And to be clear, that applies to a number of illegals as well.

The big difference is in what brought illegals here.

There are those who have historically “snuck in” to take jobs no one else essentially wants on farms and other manual labor pursuits so they can support their families.

And there are those who have come in recent years basically walking across the border and announcing they are seeking asylum.

They are then placed into the twilight zone of waiting for an appearance in immigration court that some experts contend, based on the number, can be a decade or so away.

You can make an argument that illegals who are working should be able to access Medi-Cal.

But does the same go for those who don’t secure jobs?

There have always been illegal immigrants, but the “asylum seekers” at the border in the last four or so years significantly ballooned their ranks.

The ability to either be absorbed through proper channels or even staying here without the proper status while working has deteriorated significantly.

Credit Newsom for at least realizing his largeness with California tax dollars isn’t penciling out.

It is why he has proposed freezing the ability of more illegals enrolling in Medi-Cal.

At the same time, the 1.6 million illegals already enrolled would have to start paying $100 a month premiums in 2027.

Newsom also wants to end dental coverage for those who are not in this country legally starting in 2026.

Judging by the reaction of progressives in the California Legislature, you’d thought Newsom was suggesting paving over Yosemite Valley and putting in a parking lot.

Clearly, California can’t afford to channel Santa Claus and Daddy Warbucks on steroids.

And as much as anyone would like to blame this one on the “Chainsaw Concerto Along the Potomac,” the federal government has never reimbursed states for healthcare for illegals except for pregnancy care and emergency room visits.

If California is going to act as if they have the superior call on immigration, then they shouldn’t whine when the federal government doesn’t fund policies that are contrary to the national position.

Newsom is indeed shifting his position.

But don’t blame this all on his presidential aspirations.

You can’t fund healthcare for the world, if you can’t fund it for California.

California relies heavily on illegals to provide labor, especially to grow food to feed the country and much of the world.

It is not right for us to do so and not address basic needs given we benefit from their low-cost labor.

But the ability of millions to simply say “I’m seeking asylum” when they enter illegally changed the equation.

It substantially increased the number of illegal immigrants.

And the bottom line, as Newsom has no other choice but to concede, is we don’t have the money to extend services to all of them.

California is the No. 1 destination for migrants, illegal and otherwise, in the United States.

Making the state more enticing to draw more illegals who aren’t those that were motivated first and foremost to risk the journey north so they could feed their families, is a bad move.

It’s bad for legal California residents, born here, or otherwise.

And it’s bad for the illegal immigrants who have helped build California from the day it first became a state on Sept. 9, 1850.