Cuts to Medicaid Proposed by Congressional Republicans Would Have a Devastating Impact on Health Care Access for Central Valley Residents - Families USA Skip to Main Content
03.19.2025 / Press Release

Cuts to Medicaid Proposed by Congressional Republicans Would Have a Devastating Impact on Health Care Access for Central Valley Residents

Families USA’s New Fact Sheet Highlights Importance of Medicaid for CA-22’s Families

BAKERSFIELD, CA – A new fact sheet details the impacts of deep cuts to the Medicaid program in the Republican budget proposal that Rep. David Valadao voted for, which would have devastating consequences for the health and economic security of California’s Central Valley. Medicaid provides health care coverage for more than 525,000 Californians in the Central Valley, including more than 225,000 children, according to a new fact sheet from Families USA. The Central Valley, and especially California Congressional district 22, has one of the highest Medicaid enrollment in the nation.

“Americans have been showing up in townhalls, calling their representatives in Congress and demanding that Republicans in Washington stop their plan to massively cut the health care that Americans want and need,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA. “The proposed deep cuts to Medicaid would be devastating for Central Valley residents, resulting in significant coverage losses, forcing rural hospitals, long-term care facilities or community clinics to close or scale back services, and throwing state budgets into crisis. We should all be asking every member of Congress who voted for this budget why they are willing to harm working families in their own district just to pay for a tax break for billionaires.”

Medicaid is a lifeline for the Central Valley:

  • 527,192 residents use Medicaid for health coverage — 67% of all residents in CA-22.
  • 225,525 children are on Medicaid — 87% of all children in CA-22.
  • 53,187 seniors and people with disabilities have Medicaid coverage.

Families in the Central Valley Already Struggle to Pay for Health Care:

  • 75% report being unable to afford out-of-pocket health care costs.
  • 63% report skipping or delaying medical care due to cost.
  • 48% of residents have medical debt.

Families USA, the longtime health care consumer advocate, is organizing with groups in California and across the nation to protect Medicaid from severe cuts, caps or other regulations that will result in millions of Americans losing access to the health care they need. Earlier this year, Families USA led hundreds of organizations to call on Congress and the Trump administration to reject cuts to Medicaid and work to make health care more affordable, not less.

For additional resources, see Families USA’s fact sheets on how work reporting requirements would undermine access to Medicaid, how cuts harm families and communities, and the overall importance of Medicaid to people, the economy and the health care system.

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