Press Release
Posted:
San Francisco – On Tuesday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04), Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), Rep. Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Rep. Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Dr. Amy Herold, and patient and physician advocates participated in a press conference at University of San Francisco’s Wayne and Gladys Valley Center for Vision. The speakers warned that Congressional Republicans’ plan to cut $880 billion from the budget that funds Medicaid in order to fund tax cuts for the ultra-rich will devastate local access to care for everyone.
“Congressional Republicans have mandated an $880 billion budget cut, something that can’t be done without destroying Medicaid. And the destruction of Medicaid will hurt everyone,” said Thompson. “One-third of health care in California comes from Medicaid. Without this funding, hospitals and health centers in our community will be forced to slash services or shut down altogether. That means everyone loses access to care. All of this is for one purpose: to facilitate a tax cut for the richest people in our country.”
“Republicans want to cut $880 billion or more in Medicaid so they can give a tax cut to the wealthiest people in America. Republicans are choosing to protect the wealthy while ripping away health care from millions of Americans, closing hospitals and nursing homes, and diminishing the quality of care. Here in San Francisco, 100,000 people, including 21,000 children on Medicaid, are at risk of losing their health care — but Democrats stand united against the cruel Republican scheme,” said Speaker Emerita Pelosi.
Members were joined by physicians and patients, including Dr. Amy Herold of Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. Dr. Herold spoke on the impacts Medicaid cuts will have on rural hospitals like hers:
“When we look at these proposed cuts, they would be devastating for my hospital. If we lose government funding, we will have to close services. We are the only hospital in Napa County that has a trauma center. We are the only hospital in the county that has a labor and delivery unit. If these services close, there will be a health care desert. So not only do the people who are on Medi-Cal not have access to care, but anyone, regardless of insurance status, will not have access to care if we have to close our programs. This is what keeps me up at night,” said Dr. Amy Herold, OB-GYN and Chief Administrative Office and Chief Medical Officer for Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa.
BACKGROUND
In February, Congressional Republicans passed a partisan budget bill that instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid, to cut its spending by $880 billion. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has since analyzed the budget and confirmed that the Committee cannot meet Congressional Republicans’ mandated level of spending cuts without deep cuts to Medicaid. Millions of people would lose coverage entirely, and those who remain covered would see reduced benefits and fewer available providers.
Congressional Republicans’ proposed cuts to health care and nutrition programs in their budget bill add up to nearly the exact amount of savings the party needs in order to implement their tax bill delivering massive tax cuts for corporations and those making over $743,000 per year.
Watch a video of the press conference here.