The California Medical Assistance Program (Medi-Cal or MediCal) is the name of the California Medicaid welfare program serving low-income individuals, including but not limited to: families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, pregnant women, and childless adults with incomes below 138% of federal poverty level. It is jointly administered by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with many services implemented at the local level by the counties of California. Approximately 12.5 million citizens were enrolled in Medi-Cal as of May 2015, or about 32.4% of California's population.

Medicine (British English ; American English ) is the science and practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. The word medicine is derived from Latin medicus, meaning "a physician". Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness.