Quick Take
Four local health care leaders applaud the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, particularly newly minted Supervisor Monica Martinez, for urging state leaders to protect Medi-Cal funding in the 2025-26 budget. With over one-third of county residents relying on Medi-Cal — especially in underserved areas like the Pajaro Valley — the writers warn that federal cuts could harm health care access, worsen health outcomes and strain local providers like Watsonville Community Hospital.
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We commend the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, led by Supervisor Monica Martinez, for standing up for health care justice and Medi-Cal funding. The board wrote a letter to the governor and California Association of Counties (CSAC) championing the preservation of these essential benefits in the 2025-26 fiscal budget.
Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, plays a crucial role in ensuring health care access for 85,000 Santa Cruz County residents (that’s about one-third of the county’s population) who can’t afford vital medical services.
These are essential services – including medical, dental and behavioral health care – that our community cannot afford to lose.
Enrollment is significantly higher in communities already facing economic and structural inequities. Maintaining Medi-Cal funding is essential not only to sustain access to medical, dental, behavioral health and emergency care but also to reduce health disparities and support the financial stability of key health care providers, including local nonprofit safety-net organizations such as the County of Santa Cruz Clinics, Dientes Community Dental Care, Salud Para La Gente, Santa Cruz Community Health Centers and Watsonville Community Hospital.
Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the uninsured rate in Santa Cruz County has dropped from 19% in 2013 to just 6% in 2022. This progress has been critical for our low-income families and farmworker workforce – many of whom rely on Medi-Cal for preventative care.
However, federal cuts to Medicaid will likely decimate the local health care system that provides essential access to services. These cost-effective services address health issues before they become acute and chronic.
Without sustained Medi-Cal funding, residents who lose coverage are more likely to delay care. This can lead to avoidable emergency visits and increased costs across the health care system. Patients may suffer worse health, lose their jobs and contribute less to the economy. As a result, we could see lower sales and income tax revenue.
Watsonville Community Hospital stands as a cornerstone of our regional health care system and underscores the importance of a well-funded Medi-Cal program. Continued efforts to stabilize and expand its services and maintain a skilled and quality nursing and provider staff depend heavily on strong Medi-Cal support. Notably, approximately 52% of the county’s Medi-Cal enrollees live in the Pajaro Valley and rely on the hospital for essential services.
Reductions in Medi-Cal funding or enrollment, whether from federal actions or state-level budget decisions, would undermine the progress made in expanding health care access and would disproportionately harm our most vulnerable populations. Families already walking on financial tightropes would lose coverage for their doctors’ visits, medications and more.
These cuts would harm not only those losing Medi-Cal coverage, but also trigger a domino effect touching everyone. If there is not enough Medi-Cal funding coming into the health care system to support the growth, the system will be strained and experience cuts. Such cuts would strain the entire health care infrastructure, reduce access through staffing cuts and service rollbacks, and undo significant gains in insurance coverage rates.
Overcrowded emergency rooms with extended wait times and hospital resources diverted from true emergencies would follow.
Collectively, these cuts would increase uncompensated care, intensify financial pressures on counties, hospitals, and taxpayers, and threaten local health care jobs. According to the California Budget & Policy Center, every dollar lost in Medi-Cal funding creates negative ripple effects throughout the economy.
We’ve made too much progress strengthening the local health care safety net to turn back now. We are grateful that the board of supervisors made a strong public statement to prioritize the preservation of Medi-Cal funding in the upcoming state budget – funding that thousands of local families depend on.
We commend Reps. Jimmy Panetta and Zoe Lofgren for their steadfast support during the federal budget process. They are working to preserve this funding. However, even with their herculean efforts, it’s clear federal Medicaid cuts are on the horizon.
At the state level, our delegation has always been champions of community health centers and supported the community’s efforts to save Watsonville Community Hospital. Now, our same state leaders can provide the backstop on these potential cuts to the rest of the safety net providers.
Please contact your state and federal representatives to thank them for fighting for our community’s safety net. They deserve to hear our community voices and gratitude for their efforts and how they, and we, can continue to be the model of taking care of the most vulnerable among us.
The decisions by Congress and our state legislature made in the coming weeks and months will impact our community for years to come – and all our voices matter in this process.
Anita Aguirre is CEO of Santa Cruz Community Health Centers.
Donna Young is CEO of Salud Para La Gente.
Laura Marcus is CEO of Dientes Community Dental Care.
Stephen Gray is CEO of Watsonville Community Hospital.