For years Dr. Linda Halderman operated a general surgery practice in California's San Joaquin Valley, where she treated patients ranging from those with serious, life-threatening conditions to those seeking elective, cosmetic treatments. In a recent piece in Investors Business Daily, Halderman recounted the story of a woman patient who had not had a mammogram in several years even though her family had a long history of breast cancer. "But I don't have insurance," the woman told Halderman when the doctor asked why she had neglected to get a test that costs $90. Yet the woman was in Halderman's office for $400 Botox treatments that she was paying for.

In her piece Halderman recounted stories of patients who were enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state subsidized health plan for the poor...