Bay Area Democrats rally against federal cuts to Medicaid
This week, opponents of the proposed federal budget cuts on healthcare staged a "Medicaid Day of Action" that included a series of press conferences by elected officials in the Bay Area.
In California, the Medicaid program is known as Medi-Cal. But the money comes from Washington D.C., and it's bound to be affected by the $880 billion cut being proposed. At a press conference at Valley Medical Center in San Jose, after Democratic politicians had their say, the media heard from Huong Truong, a San Jose resident whose year-old daughter Joanne was safely delivered thanks to MediCal funding.
"The health of my family is my top priority," he said. "I am thankful for Medi-Cal because, without it, I don't know how my family can afford and sustain healthcare services. Medi-Cal is important, not just for my family, but to millions of other people just like myself, who are building their families."
Later at another Democratic press gathering in San Francisco, another story of the impact of Medicaid on real people's lives. Speaking through an interpreter, Sasha Bittner said Medicaid not only saved her life but helped her to live it.
Cerebral palsy left her a quadriplegic with speech and vision problems, but using Medicaid-provided services, Sasha graduated from UC Berkeley and went on to chair the state's Council on Developmental Disabilities.
"The reason I am able to live such a constructive life is because of the critical assistance I receive every day from home care providers funded by Medicaid," she said. "If there had been a cap on Medicaid, my family would have gone bankrupt, or I could have just died. For many of us, a Medicaid cap is an actual death sentence."
Back in San Jose, medical staff president Dr. Patricia Salmon said things used to be different at Valley Medical Center before they expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act in 2013.
"And I would go and talk to these individuals and hear that they didn't have insurance," she said. "They didn't have Medicaid. They couldn't afford their medications. They had to struggle to choose between medications and putting food on their table. They couldn't go to the doctor for minor problems. They had to come to the emergency room only when they had a critical illness that could have been prevented."
The hospital's CEO said one in four residents in Santa Clara County get their healthcare through Medi-Cal funding. And about 60% of them are currently being served by the county's healthcare system. People can argue about whether or not healthcare is a "right," but it's certainly something that every American expects.
If the Trump administration thinks Medicaid is just another example of waste in government, they may be picking a fight that could turn voters against them.
