As Congress debates the future of Medicaid, we at Vista Community Clinic are sounding the alarm. These proposed cuts would be catastrophic — not just for our clinics, but for the hundreds of thousands of Californians who depend on us for their health, their stability, and in many cases, their survival.
Vista Community Clinic serves more than 65,000 patients annually throughout North San Diego County, Orange County and southern Riverside County. Our patients are hardworking families, seniors on fixed incomes, immigrants, and young people who are just getting their start. The vast majority — close to 74% — are covered by Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid and another 6% rely on Medicare.
For our patients, Medi-Cal is not a luxury. It is how they access prenatal care, cancer screenings, vaccines, mental health therapy, dental services, and the treatment of chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes. For many, our clinic is their only medical home. When you cut Medicaid, you do not just reduce a line item—you erase their lifeline.
Our region includes border communities, agricultural communities, and underserved urban neighborhoods — areas already grappling with provider shortages and health disparities. If these Medicaid cuts are enacted, the results will be devastating: longer wait times, fewer appointments, and programs such as our diabetes chronic disease early intervention programs scaled back or eliminated altogether. Emergency rooms will fill up with preventable conditions, and our public health systems — still reeling from the effects of the pandemic—will be overwhelmed once again.
Every day at Vista, we see what accessible care makes possible. A young mother receives prenatal support and delivers a healthy baby. A teen with depression finds help through school-based therapy. A farmworker with a suspicious mole is diagnosed early and treated before cancer spreads. None of this happens without Medi-Cal.
What is most frustrating is that we know these programs work. They save lives. They reduce overall healthcare costs. They prevent crises. Slashing Medicaid now — just as many families are beginning to rebuild their lives — would undo decades of progress and force our communities to bear the brunt of Washington’s budget decisions.
Some policymakers say this is about fiscal responsibility. But cutting Medicaid is not fiscally responsible — it is fiscally destructive. Preventive care is always cheaper than emergency care. Community-based services cost far less than hospital stays. Supporting mental health and substance use treatment is more effective than waiting for someone to reach a breaking point. In the end, we will all pay the price for these short-sighted cuts.
At Vista, we have always believed that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Our mission is built on the belief that healthy people create healthy communities. When we take away access to care, we erode the very foundation of that mission.
I urge our representatives in Washington — especially those who represent California’s diverse and vulnerable communities — to reject any plan that includes cuts to Medicaid. I invite them to visit our clinics, meet the people whose lives are changed every day by Medi-Cal, and see the value this program delivers far beyond the exam room.
Let us be clear: these cuts are not abstract. They are personal. They are political decisions with life-altering consequences for millions of Californians.
And we will not be silent while our patients are put at risk.
Fernando Sañudo is CEO of Vista Community Clinic.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Opinion: Cutting Medicaid would be catastrophic for California’s community clinics )
Also on site :