Three Republican members of Congress in San Diego, Orange County and the Central Valley are being called on by We Are California community groups, health care workers and residents to oppose the Trump-backed budget proposal, which includes an $880 billion cut to Medicaid and Medi-Cal.
Launched the day after the presidential election in November 2024, We Are California currently has a growing list of over 65 partner organizations that are working together to advocate for the continuation of health care access programs.
Medicaid is the nation’s largest health insurance program and Medi-Cal is the state’s health insurance program that receives one-third of its funding from the federal government. The Republican budget proposal could affect 15 million Californians, including seniors, people with long-term illnesses and disabilities, children and working families who rely on these programs for essential health services.
The health community groups are urging representatives Darrel Issa (CA-46), Young Kim (CA-40) and David Valadao (CA-22) to say “Hands off our healthcare,” as the budget cut proposal will potentially finance tax breaks and incentives for billionaires and corporations.
In the Central Valley, 527,192 people under Valadao’s district depend on Medi-Cal, which has the highest rate of enrollment in the state. “I would urge Valadao to vote ‘no’ on this budget,” said Randy Villegas, a Visalia Unified School District board member and a college professor. “I grew up on the W.I.C. programs. I grew up on free and reduced lunch. I grew up on Medi-Cal. And these are programs that allowed me to survive and thrive in my community.”
In San Diego, 29% of constituents under Issa’s district are at risk of having their healthcare taken away. Hiram Soto, a resident of Poway, spoke about his father’s battle with Parkinson’s disease, a life-changing diagnosis that impacted his whole family.
His family relies on caregivers to provide care for his father’s advanced disease. “Life happens and we need a system that works for us. Without the support of caregivers, we would be faced with a hard decision: take care of our father or keep our jobs. This budget threatens to take that support away,” said Soto.
In Orange County, 157,262 people under Kim’s district also depend on Medi-Cal. Nina Ho from the California Health Nail Salon Collaborative spoke about how the proposed budget cuts would impact her mother and her brother.
“I am terrified that the proposed federal budget cuts could affect people like my mom, who has heart health issues, and my younger brother and the health coverage they need,” Ho said. “Like so many working-class families in Orange County, I grew up receiving health services from CalOptimal, which is MediCal, and I don’t know how I could have gotten health services living in a single-income, below-poverty household. Now so many are being threatened with our health care being taken away.”
The budget cuts will impact more than 80 million Americans, including 1 in 3 Californians who use these programs. Medicaid currently covers the following:
-Nearly four in 10 children and over eight in 10 children who are in poverty.
-Qualified pregnant women.
-Adults ages 19-64 with disabilities.
-People aged 65 and over who meet financial limits.
Additionally, Medicaid covers people with disabilities from physical conditions, intellectual or developmental disabilities, serious behavioral disorders or serious mental illness.
Although the exact details of the Medicaid cuts remain unclear, it is evident that such severe reductions in funding will result in millions of Americans losing access to medical care, long-term care and specialized benefits like housing support.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness launched a Take Action page for advocates to quickly and easily contact their elected officials and urge them not to support cuts to Medicaid.