California Democrat wants to fix the looming health crisis. GOP is quiet | Opinion

About 4 million Californians are about to lose their Medicaid coverage, another 1.7 million Covered California enrollees will see a premium increase of 66% because of expiring tax credits. On top of that, 70 hospitals are on the verge of declaring bankruptcy because of the One,Big, Beautiful Bill.

And what are Republicans in Congress doing to keep us from going over a healthcare cliff? Nothing. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson sent representatives home until Oct. 6. 

President Donald Trump – facing unpopularity with his tax-cut and spending bill – hopes to gain support by changing the name of the bill, rather than addressing the real reason for the public’s cold shoulder.

HR 4849, by Merced Democrat Adam Gray, would restore Medicaid funding but the GOP is not supporting Gray’s bill.

Democrats are asking for an extension of the federal tax credits used by 19.3 million Americans to purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace in exchange for their support of a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown by Sept. 30. Trump canceled a previously scheduled Sept. 25 meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to discuss the proposal. 

“After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Health experts paint a gloomy picture

The looming problems are real, according to Gray and healthcare experts who spoke to The McClatchy California Editorial Board on Monday. 

• More than half of California hospitals are currently operating in the red, said Carmela Coyle, president/CEO of the California Hospital Association which represents more than 400 hospitals.
• Community health centers and clinics are spending more money than they receive, said Francisco Silva of the California Primary Care Association. About 850,000 patients will lose coverage due to new eligibility requirements, he said.
• Eighty percent of Planned Parenthood of California patients rely on Medicaid, said Jodi Hicks, the organization’s CEO/president. The group is facing a loss of $304 million in federal Medicaid reimbursement, said Hicks, which will result in downsizing of staff in education and community outreach in an effort to preserve patient services.
• Dustin Corcoran, CEO of the California Medical Association, worries that more physicians will flee their practice because of Medicaid cuts and elimination of health insurance tax subsidies. In the last five years, he said, there was a 39% reduction in independent physician practitioners.

GOP has few solutions 

Ten House Republicans, including David Valadao of Hanford, are backing legislation to extend the ACA subsidies for one year, but that proposal has drawn little support from GOP leaders. 

Republicans accuse Democrats of wanting to fund Medicaid for undocumented immigrants, and insist the One, Big, Beautiful Bill will focus on cutting fraud. 

“Since my arrival in Washington, the constant nonsense that comes out of my Republican colleagues’ mouths is ‘Look over here, look at that shiny object. Let’s try to come up with some divisive, culture war talking point to avoid dealing with reality,” said Gray. “The reality is (Republicans are) decimating health care for the American people. 

“This is about destroying the progress we’ve made in trying to improve our healthcare system and the way it delivers services across the country.” 

Unfortunately, the rural poor who tend to be concentrated in the San Joaquin Valley will suffer the most as the loss of health insurance and community clinics will drive them to bypass care until they have to go visit hospital emergency rooms.

“Rural communities were last in line before. We’re going to be last in line tomorrow,” said Gray, who represents the 13th Congressional District where 59% of its residents rely on MediCal and another 4% use the premium subsidy to purchase health insurance through Covered California.

That rate is surpassed in California only by Valadao’s 22nd District (70% for both MediCal and premium subsidies) and Rep. Jim Costa’s 21st District (67%). Valadao threatened to vote against the Medicaid cuts but in the end sided with the GOP in a partisan 218-214 vote. 

The healthcare ecosystem is fragile, and Republicans don’t care.