Advocates, lawmakers rally against funding cuts outside Valley Medical Center

SAN JOSE — Protesters laid on a grassy spot in front of Valley Medical Center beneath tombstone-shaped protest signs reading “RIP Clinic Closed,” “RIP Untreated Mental Illness” and more — listing their “causes of death” if the California legislature does not close funding gaps caused by federal cuts to healthcare dollars.

The group of healthcare workers, local leaders and a coalition of local advocacy organizations gathered at the “die-in” on Friday aiming to bring attention to the impacts of federal funding cuts to healthcare services, specifically concerns that budget restrictions could lead to service cuts for vulnerable populations, and pressure lawmakers to take legislative action to address cuts.

“There will be no future budget cycle that can bring back lives lost because care came too late,” said Darcie Green, executive director of Latinas Contra Cancer, one of the organizations that planned the event. “There will be no future appropriation that can give a mother more time with her children after a treatable cancer diagnosis is diagnosed too late. There will be no future policy correction that restores health to someone who becomes permanately disabled because they cannot access care when they needed it.”

As California’s healthcare budget feels the squeeze, advocates have expressed concern that Medi-Cal recipients and county residents who rely on public hospitals could face diminished access to healthcare services and increased wait times.

Santa Clara County, which oversees the state’s second-largest public hospital system including four hospitals and 15 health centers, is facing a $787 million deficit caused largely by cuts to Medicaid dollars in HR 1, the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill“, which passed last year. Medicaid, which is known as Medi-Cal in California, provides health insurance to low-income and disabled individuals. More than 50% of the county health system’s revenue previously came from Medi-Cal.

County voters approved Measure A in November, which created a 0.625% sales tax rate increase in April aiming to make up some of the gap caused by the federal cuts. The county budget allocates $337 million of that revenue toward the healthcare system.

Despite that tax funding, some health services — particularly behavioral health services — have still been facing staffing cuts in response to budget shortfalls.

Santa Clara Valley Healthcare serves 400,000 recipients of Medi-Cal, organizers added.

The protesters specifically called on Assemblymember Robert Rivas, speaker of the California State Assembly, and other state lawmakers to fund county healthcare outreach and enrollment networks, invest $500 million to stabilize the state’s public hospitals and establish a $50 million healthcare benefit fund to assist people who lose their Medi-Cal coverage under the federal cuts, organizers said.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said that the county has done all it can to mitigate the “manufactured health crisis” and called on the legislature to keep Medi-Cal as a managed care plan and not transition to a fee-for-service model, which would result in an additional $200 million in lost revenue for the county.

“Those lost dollars translate into people losing access to care — care for ongoing chronic conditions, emergency illnesses and infectious diseases,” Ellenberg said. “It means longer ER wait times, slower ambulance response times, fewer specialty care providers and, in many cases, untreated illness or trauma resulting in death.”

Megan Bedi, who attended on behalf of State Senator Dave Cortese, expressed gratitude for the work of Santa Clara County and said that Cortese will continue to advocate in support of preserving healthcare.

“Your voices, your stories and your need for indigent care and for preserving Medi-Cal continue to be at the forefront of our priorities,” she said.

Celeste Walker from the office of Rep. Ash Kalra spoke of the “incredibly challenging times” that are forcing governments at all levels to make “difficult budget decisions.”

“But we must be clear: we cannot balance our budgets on the back of the most vulnerable people in our communities, including our undocumented neighbors,” she said. “HR 1 is already a devastating attack on healthcare. Instead of providing relief, the May revision would deepen this harm by putting even more pressure on counties, public hospitals, safety net providers and the people who depend on them.”

Vanessa Gonzalez, a representative from Rivas’ office, added that his office heard the protest “loud and clear.”

“With the actions of Trump and Congressional Republicans, health costs are climbing, and Californians are losing access to care,” she said. “The speaker and the assembly believe in a California that helps people and continue to work on a budget that reflects our shared values.”

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