Health care advocates join to protect Our Care California as Republicans vote to decimate rural health care, force 28 California hospitals to close

According to a statement from Representative Nanette Barragán, GOP proposed cuts to medicaid put coverage for millions of Californians on the chopping block and put 28 California hospitals at risk of closure.

Today, Barragán and local health care advocates joined Protect Our Care California during Save Our Hospitals Week to discuss the ongoing GOP assault on Medicaid and its impact on California hospitals.

Representative David Valadao and his fellow Republicans in the House recently passed Trump’s big, ugly bill that slashes funding for Americans’ health care in order to hand out tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. If Republicans get their way and this bill is signed into law, the consequences would be catastrophic, threatening millions of Californians access to coverage and putting 338 rural hospitals, including 28 in California, at risk of closure. If rural hospitals are forced to close, seniors, children, people with disabilities, cancer patients and more, across California will lose access to necessary care.

Accessing local hospitals can make the difference between life and death, and save Californians hours of travel to access critical care.

Californians across the political spectrum want more access to health care, not less, but despite widespread opposition in the Central Valley and across California, Republicans are charging forward with their reckless spending bill.

This will cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the ACA, throwing 16 million Americans off their coverage, forcing rural hospitals to close, and hiking premiums for more than 24 million Americans. All to put more money in the pockets of the rich. Speakers will highlight the devastating impact of GOP cuts to Medicaid and reduced access to health care.

“If hospitals close their doors, seniors, children, people with disabilities, veterans, and countless others across the state will be left without access to life-saving care,” said Barragán. “House Democrats are fighting back against this assault on Americans’ health care, and we demand Republicans like David Valadao to join us and stand for the people they were elected to represent.”

“Our medical system is already vulnerable and we can’t afford any additional cuts,” said Reyna Olaguex, CEO of Healthy Communities Kern. “This will set us back many years and we need to protect Medi-Cal for our communities. We have a strong farmworker community in Kern County that relies on Medi-Cal and we need to protect it. When we have a healthy community, everyone succeeds.”

“The budget that House Republicans passed in May in the dead of night by one vote – which you can say was Valadao’s single vote – is the largest cut to health care, and Medicaid specifically, in history,” said Kiran Savage-Sangwan, Executive Director of California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. “It cuts deeply into our health care infrastructure and provides tax cuts that reward corporate greed while punishing the families and workers who have the least among us.”

“As a constituent of Rep. David Valadao’s district, I feel betrayed since he vowed to vote no to any medical cuts,” said Nataly Santamaria, Senior Manager for the Central Valley Promotora Network. “It’s disheartening that the district with the most Medi-Cal enrollees is moving this forward. These are lives that will be lost.”

“Not only does Rep. David Valadao’s district have the highest Medi-Cal recipients in the state, but the country as well – with about a half a million people who rely on Medi-Cal,” said Melissa Cedillo, Organizing Manager for Health Access California. “This is a region that is already very rural and hard to get care, where a lot of people face lengthy wait times and long drives to receive care. These medical systems are entire ecosystems and to cut services and care is going to make a bad situation worse.”
You can watch the full event here, and learn more about GOP threats to American health care here.