These days, it feels like a firehose of news coming at us. In the midst of all the chaos, President Trump and Republicans in Congress are trying to take away YOUR health care. Let’s break that down. 

House Republicans are pushing forward a budget proposal that requires between $880 billion and $2.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid in order to give billionaires another tax break. 

Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California, is a program funded by Congress to cover health care for a wide range of people, including kids, pregnant people, low-income families, older people, people with disabilities, and people with mental health or substance use disorders. 

Defunding Medi-Cal would be devastating to our community. In San Diego County alone, 1 in 6 people rely on Medi-Cal, including almost 300,000 kids. Cuts to Medi-Cal mean more people would be uninsured, more people would lose critical benefits like hearing and dental coverage, and more hospitals would close.

Earlier this week, I visited Rady Children’s Hospital with Senator Alex Padilla to hear directly from patients, families, and health care providers about how Medi-Cal cuts would affect them. I met two-year-old Cesar and five-year-old Delilah, who both depend on Medi-Cal to cover their access to medical care, specialists, and family support programs through Rady Children’s. Republicans’ Medi-Cal cuts could take that all away. 

I also met with SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West about how these cuts would hurt their ability to care for patients. No matter who you are -- a patient, provider, or someone not connected to Medicaid at all -- these cuts will impact you, because these programs don’t only get cut for Medi-Cal patients, they get cut for everyone. 

Medicaid isn’t perfect; there are still too many people who fall through the cracks because of different state-level restrictions on eligibility. But gutting it isn’t the answer. Cutting Medicaid will skyrocket poverty rates. It will reduce employment -- and put enormous pressure on state budgets.

The hard truth is that Republicans control the House, Senate, and the White House -- so they don’t need Democratic votes to pass this budget because they’re utilizing a tool called “reconciliation.” That’s why public pressure is so important. I need to hear your stories so I can use them to get through to my colleagues. So if you have a personal story about how Medi-Cal/Medicaid cuts will hurt you, please share it with my office.

We are in this fight together. Thanks for all you do.