Riverside County Caregivers Head to DC to Fight Threatened Medicaid Cuts

Riverside County healthcare workers headed to Washington, DC this past week to fight Medicaid cuts that could devastate 15 million California residents, including over 200,000 people in Congressmember Ken Calvert’s district alone. Caregivers are paid Congressmember Calvert a visit to demand his direct answer on how he will vote regarding future Medicaid budget proposals.

“Congressman Calvert’s district faces a serious threat,” said Tammy Peace, an emergency room nursing assistant in Palm Springs. “If Medi-Cal funding is slashed, hospitals will be forced to close, and our community will suffer. I want to know if the Congressman will stand up for us. It’s about keeping our hospitals running and jobs in our communities.”

In Congressman Calvert’s district, where rural hospitals and clinics serve as lifelines for thousands of families, cuts to Medicaid would have devastating consequences. Rural hospitals, which operate on thin margins, depend on Medicaid reimbursements to keep their doors open. Without this funding, entire communities could lose access to emergency care, maternity services, and specialized treatments—forcing patients to travel long distances for critical care or, worse, go without it altogether. 

Medicaid has long enjoyed bipartisan support. More than 91 million Americans—nearly one in four people—depend on Medicaid for their healthcare. A recent Navigator Research poll found that 81% of Americans—including a majority of both Democrats and Republicans—oppose cuts to Medicaid. In recent years, voters in red states including Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah have voted to expand Medicaid access, recognizing the important role the program plays in keeping hospitals open and working families healthy.

This lobbying trip is part of a larger nationwide effort to oppose billionaire-driven efforts to slash federal programs like Medicaid (known as Medi-Cal in California) in order to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.

Any proposed cuts would not only jeopardize care for 15 million Californians who count on the Medi-Cal program, but would also threaten local hospitals and healthcare jobs, slash home care services that keep seniors and children with disabilities out of institutions, and raise healthcare costs for all Californians. 

The impact of cuts would bring disastrous results. Local nursing homes and home care programs could be decimated, potentially meaning more local families having to take over full care responsibilities for senior loved ones whose direct care facilities and home care programs could shudder. Most nursing homes and home care programs already operate on slim margins, and cuts to Medi-Cal could be a death knell. 

Caregivers also warned that residents would have to get sick enough to go to the emergency room before they could access basic medical care, raising costs for everyone and clogging emergency rooms statewide. 

Taking money out of Medi-Cal is also expected to force private insurers to raise costs on commercial plans, putting further pressure and increased costs on all healthcare facilities, businesses, and consumers, whether they rely on Medi-Cal or not.

The Riverside County contingent is one of multiple groups from California and across the country heading to DC to object to threatened healthcare cuts, which billionaires are pushing Congress to act on quickly. The events are being organized and promoted by an emerging coalition of healthcare workers, patients, and community members dedicated to protecting Medi-Cal.

Hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes across California would be at risk of closing their doors and handing out pink slips if Congress slashes funding for the essential healthcare program. Cuts would also reduce access to home care services, forcing families with elderly parents or children with disabilities to choose between keeping their homes or putting their loved ones in an institution.