Santa Clara County officers worry that Republicans’ “huge, lovely invoice” will rip a “seismic tear” within the nation’s social security internet as they brace for greater than $1 billion in misplaced federal revenues domestically over the following few years.
On July 4, President Donald Trump signed his large landmark invoice into legislation, placing into movement sweeping tax breaks and a number of the largest cuts in historical past to meals help and public medical insurance packages.
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 providers in its lately adopted $13.7 billion price range. However the passage of Home Decision 1 will now create “an unprecedented fiscal scenario for the county,” County Government James Williams mentioned.
Medicaid — a federally funded public medical insurance program that’s often called Medi-Cal in California — is likely one of the important providers going through cutbacks to the tune of $1 trillion over the following 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 because of this.
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 mentioned that lowered federal revenues from Medicaid will impression extra than simply the people who depend on the general public medical insurance program, which is for low-income people.
“With out entry to preventative well being care, individuals will flip to the emergency rooms when they’re sick and in disaster,” he mentioned. “This ends in elevated prices, delays in affected person care, longer wait instances and finally it’ll impression the lives of people in our neighborhood, our mates and our relations.”
Supervisor Betty Duong known as the tax minimize invoice “merciless,” “insidious” and “nothing in need of a loss of life sentence for therefore many in our neighborhood.”
“When emergency rooms are flooded, when our ambulances are tied up and there are none left out there, we’ll all pay as a society,” she mentioned. “We’re not simply going to pay now, we’re going to pay for generations to come back for what this invoice goes to do to undermine the well being of our neighborhood.”
The Supplemental Diet Help Program, which supplies meals advantages for greater than 42 million Individuals, will even face sharp cutbacks and have new work necessities for eligibility. In California, roughly 5.4 million residents depend on SNAP, known as CalFresh domestically, together with 1.5 million kids and almost 1.1 million seniors.
Bay Space meals banks have been sounding the alarm that chopping SNAP may consequence within the lack of 9.5 billion meals per 12 months 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 12 months, can’t absolutely fill the hole, he needs them to “soften the sides, to mitigate slightly than exacerbate these cuts.”
“Public hospitals in California make up solely 6% of the state’s hospitals,” Williams mentioned. “However public hospitals like ours signify over 50% of the trauma and burn facilities within the state and prepare over 50% of medical doctors in California. We’re the spine for that important care throughout California.”
