After repeatedly vowing they would not cut health care for their constituents, Reps David Valadao and Young Kim sold out their communities to give tax breaks to their ultra-wealthy friends
After the bill only got worse, taking further aim at reproductive health and gender-affirming care, health advocates vow to hold our GOP members of congress accountable
SACRAMENTO, CA – On Wednesday night, 215 congressmembers – including all 9 of California’s Republican members – voted to pass a budget reconciliation bill that rips health care away from millions of Americans. It’s estimated that nearly 3.5 million Californians will lose coverage, no longer being able to see a doctor, seek care in a hospital, or get the medications they need to survive. It’s estimated that over 5,000 Californians per year will lose their lives due to these cruel cuts.
The vote will cut over $ 20 billion in Medi-Cal funding for our state, having a ripple effect on our entire health care system. Many of our hospitals will need to cut services, staff, or close all together. Health care costs for every Californian will go up, and ER wait times will grow.
“California’s GOP congressmembers turned their back on their constituents last night. After California members like Represenative David Valadao and Representative Young Kim vowed again and again that they would protect Medicaid and refuse to cut care from their constituents, we now know that was a lie,” said Amanda McAllister-Wallner, Executive Director of Health Access California, the statewide health care advocacy coalition.
“And it gets worse,” she continued. “Late night amendments took a bad bill that already cut millions of Californians off coverage and made it even more harmful. There are additional draconian attacks on women’s reproductive care and medically necessary gender-affirming care, and the timelines for kicking millions off of care got moved up. As icing on the worst cake ever made, the bill specifically attacks California for covering more of our residents, regardless of immigration status.”
“This federal action, carried out by legislators far removed from the daily realities of those impacted, casts a dark shadow over the well-being of our community in California. To deny gender-affirming care is to deny humanity and ignore the overwhelming medical consensus that underscores its necessity,” said Dannie Ceseña, Director of the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network, a program of Health Access.
Just how bad is the version House Republicans voted for last night?
- Moves up the implementation for work requirements from 2029 to 2026
- Moves up implementation timeline for every 6-month eligibility checks from 2027 to 2026
- Ends gender-affirming care financing for ALL Medicaid expansion population, not just those under the age of 18
- Punishes consumers who want to use their own money to purchase a health plan that covers abortion services
- Creates a new section that would reduce federal subsidies for premiums for those who enroll in coverage through Covered California – raising costs on middle-income families
“For months health consumers, labor, disability, and many other community voices with the Fight For Our Health have come together to hold nearly 50 events in every CA republican district to advocate against these cuts. Groups marched in front of member offices, held rallies in front of hospitals, and just this week carried coffins to signify the lives lost because of this bill. We won’t forget that in the end our GOP lawmakers chose their wealthy friends over the health of their own constituents,” concluded McAllister-Wallner.
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Press inquires can be directed to:
Rachel Linn Gish, rlinngish@health-access.org, (916) 532-2128
The post Health Advocates Respond: Overnight, GOP Members of Congress Vote to Rip Health Care Away from Millions of Californians appeared first on Health Access.
