by To protest changes to Medicaid and other health care programs, U.S. Representative Mike Levin held a press conference on Tuesday.
Leaders in the healthcare sector and patients joined Levin to discuss the budget bill’s implications for San Diego on July 30, the day before Medicaid’s 60th anniversary.
Our nation pledged sixty years ago that you shouldn’t be left on your own if you became ill and required health care coverage. According to Levin, it is a rather basic guarantee that has provided millions of Americans with life-saving access to health care services for 60 years.
But now, more than in a long time, that promise is in jeopardy.
On July 4, the One Big Beautiful Bill was approved. Significant modifications to Medicaid that impact eligibility standards for coverage are included in the bill. Changes to Medicaid will impact the entire country, according to the nonpartisan research and policy institute Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Cuts could result in health care providers limiting services or leaving the region if not enough patients are coming in, which would reduce access to health care for a whole community because millions of people depend on Medicaid.
The California Hospital Association, which represents over 400 hospitals in the state and promotes better and more accessible healthcare, estimates that the budget bill will cause hospitals in California to lose between $66 billion and $128 billion in Medicaid and Medicare revenue over the course of the next ten years.
The San Diego PACE building in Vista served as the venue for the press conference on Tuesday. A part of San Ysidro Health, a nonprofit organization that offers families accessible and reasonably priced healthcare, is the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE. About 65% of PACE patients are on Medicaid, according to Veronica Dela Rosa, interim CEO of San Ysidro Health, which serves seniors 55 and older.
With around 160,000 patients served by San Ysidro Health, Medicaid cuts could result in nearly 104,000 people losing access to care.
This is taking place in our backyards, here in Vista, in Escondido, and all throughout the county, let’s be clear. According to Dela Rosa, these include our loved ones, patients, and neighbors.
According to Rosa, San Ysidro Health has already witnessed elderly people on fixed incomes coming into PACE and warning the staff about hunger. According to Levin, warnings of insurance price increases might begin to be sent out as early as September. Levin claims that even though the budget plan won’t fully take effect until the end of 2026, the community is already seeing the repercussions.
We might have to turn away some who genuinely need our assistance. People will lose their lives, we will lose our careers, and we will lose trust. “I think what’s really heartbreaking,” said Mary Jurgensen, Gary and Mary West PACE’s director of community engagement.
Speakers at the press conference expressed their worries about the budget bill’s effects on local health care. Nearly all of them voiced concerns about rising healthcare costs, possible hospital closures, fewer services, and higher wait times. Some even went so far as to suggest that although they are preventable, possible deaths could happen.
Get neighborhood news in your inbox. It’s free and enlightening.
Become one of the 20,000+ individuals who receive breaking news alerts and the Times of San Diego in their inbox every day at 8 a.m.
Weekly updates from San Diego communities have also been provided! You acknowledge and agree to the terms by clicking “Sign Up.” Choose from the options below.
According to Levin, the bill would eventually affect all Californians, even those who are not enrolled in Medi-Cal.
Thinking about this bill keeps you up at night, and what truly keeps me up at night is what it means for all Americans, not just the medical sector. Medi-Cal, Medicaid, and Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) recipients will not be the only ones affected by these cuts. “Every American will be impacted by these cuts,” stated Dr. Melanie Wolf, Providence Mission Hospital’s chief medical officer.
Levin promised to keep trying to get Medicaid recipients their coverage back.
“If we are lucky enough to retake the gavel in November of next year, I will do everything in my power to make sure that we can work in good faith to restore Medicaid to millions of Americans,” he stated.
