Santa Clara County officers concern that Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” will rip a “seismic tear” within the nation’s social security internet as they brace for greater than $1 billion in misplaced federal revenues regionally over the subsequent few years.
On July 4, President Donald Trump signed his large landmark invoice into legislation, placing into movement sweeping tax breaks and a few of the largest cuts in historical past to meals help and public medical insurance applications.
For months, county leaders have tried to organize for Trump’s federal spending cuts, changing almost $60 million of federal funds with native {dollars} for housing, public well being and behavioral well being companies in its lately adopted $13.7 billion finances. However the passage of Home Decision 1 will now create “an unprecedented fiscal situation for the county,” County Government James Williams stated.
Medicaid — a federally funded public medical insurance program that’s often called Medi-Cal in California — is likely one of the important companies going through cutbacks to the tune of $1 trillion over the subsequent decade. New work necessities to entry Medicaid have additionally been imposed, and greater than 12 million individuals nationwide and roughly 3.4 million California residents are anticipated to lose their insurance coverage consequently.
In Santa Clara County, one in 4 residents are on Medi-Cal, and Medicaid makes up the most important income for the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare system — the second largest county-owned well being and hospital system within the state.
At a press convention on Thursday afternoon, Santa Clara Valley Healthcare CEO Paul Lorenz stated that diminished federal revenues from Medicaid will affect extra than simply the people who depend on the general public medical insurance program, which is for low-income people.
“Without access to preventative health care, people will turn to the emergency rooms when they are sick and in crisis,” he stated. “This results in increased costs, delays in patient care, longer wait times and ultimately it will impact the lives of individuals in our community, our friends and our family members.”
Supervisor Betty Duong known as the tax reduce invoice “cruel,” “insidious” and “nothing short of a death sentence for so many in our community.”
“When emergency rooms are flooded, when our ambulances are tied up and there are none left available, we will all pay as a society,” she stated. “We’re not just going to pay now, we’re going to pay for generations to come for what this bill is going to do to undermine the health of our community.”
The Supplemental Diet Help Program, which offers meals advantages for greater than 42 million People, may even face sharp cutbacks and have new work necessities for eligibility. In California, roughly 5.4 million residents depend on SNAP, known as CalFresh regionally, together with 1.5 million youngsters and almost 1.1 million seniors.
Bay Space meals banks have been sounding the alarm that reducing SNAP might consequence within the lack of 9.5 billion meals per yr nationwide and pressure already overwhelmed hunger-relief efforts.
Williams on Thursday known as on the state to step up. Whereas he acknowledged that California, which has had its personal fiscal challenges this yr, can’t totally fill the hole, he desires them to “soften the edges, to mitigate rather than exacerbate those cuts.”
“Public hospitals in California make up only 6% of the state’s hospitals,” Williams stated. “But public hospitals like ours represent over 50% of the trauma and burn centers in the state and train over 50% of doctors in California. We are the backbone for that critical care across California.”
