Community members rallied in front of Congressman David Valadao’s office to oppose proposed cuts to Medi-Cal (Medicaid) on February 24. Two out of every three constituents in Valadao’s district rely on Medi-Cal, making this one of the most impacted districts in California. 

The rally was held to encourage community members to contact Valadao’s office and advocate for the protection of these programs.

“Elected officials like Congressman Valadao need to understand that their decisions have real consequences. If they choose to cut Medi-Cal, they are choosing to leave thousands of people without access to life-saving care. And we will not forget,” said Dr. Randy Villegas, a professor at the College of the Sequoias and a trustee for the Visalia Unified School District.

Over 65% of constituents in the district rely on Medi-Cal for health coverage so cuts to these programs would impact access to healthcare, education, and food assistance.

Dolores Huerta, labor and rights activist, spoke at the rally about the need to protect Medi-Cal, Medicaid, and other healthcare programs. 

She explained how these programs impact millions of Californians and urged Congressman David Valadao to vote against the proposed budget cuts.

“One-third of California’s healthcare budget comes from the federal government. This is not just a local issue, it’s a national crisis. Community clinics, transportation for patients, services for the disabled, food programs for children. All of these will be impacted. And what happens when people lose access to healthcare? They end up in emergency rooms, in debt, or worse. We cannot allow this to happen,” she said. 

Huerta urged the community to call to keep the pressure on Valadao, encouraging people to fill up his office’s voicemail, write postcards, and spread the message.

“We need Valadao to be a champion for his constituents, not for billionaires,” Huerta said. 

On a personal note, Huerta shared that she, like many others in the community, is on Medicare and that without it, she wouldn’t be here today due to past health issues.

“If it weren’t for Medicare, I wouldn’t have received the care I needed. So when we talk about cuts to these programs, we are talking about real lives being put in danger, the lives of seniors, of children, of working families who rely on these services to survive,” Huerta said. 

Stephanie Martinez, a receptionist at Dignity Health Foundation Clinic, shared with Kern Sol News that she is at the rally to help stop Congressman Valadao from cutting Medi-Cal. 

If Valadao goes through with these cuts, Martínez said the number of patients coming into hospitals and clinics is going to drop dramatically. And when that happens, “we, healthcare workers, are going to lose our jobs.”

Martinez explained that healthcare workers are part of a cycle: “We help the community, and the community helps us by providing jobs. Without Medi-Cal, that cycle breaks. Families, seniors, and children won’t be able to get care, and we won’t be able to continue serving them.”

Martinez also shared that her grandson, who is autistic, relies on Medi-Cal for necessary therapies and resources that help him get through daily life.

“He needs special headphones because loud noises overwhelm him. He needs access to doctors and specialists. If we didn’t have Medi-Cal, I don’t know what we would do. Families like mine would be left struggling, trying to figure out how to pay for care that is already difficult to access,” Martinez said. 

The proposed cuts to the care system in California are expected to have effects on both providers and clients.

For caregivers, such as Monica Escalante, if the cuts happen, she probably wouldn’t be able to send her child to college and her patient would not be able to get the care that she needs. 

Escalante shared that her patient is a young woman who was previously a medical assistant (M.A.) and still keeps her scrubs in the closet, holding onto the hope that she might one day recover enough to return to work. But she recently suffered an accident, which has left her with a neurological condition that causes involuntary head movements and needs daily care. 

“Without Medi-Cal, she’ll probably be in a lot of pain. She wouldn’t be able to sleep properly. She just wouldn’t be able to function. People who don’t get the proper rest, people who don’t get the proper food, you just don’t function properly,” Escalante said. 

Without Escalante’s support, she said her patient would struggle to eat properly, attend medical appointments, and manage her daily life.

PHOTO GALLERY: Community members rally in front of Congressman David Valadao’s office to oppose proposed cuts to Medi-Cal (Medicaid) on February 24, Bakersfield, CA. Two out of every three constituents in Valadao’s district rely on Medi-Cal, making this one of the most impacted districts in California.