Rep. Min: “I’m the father of three young kids myself, and I cannot fathom the idea that they would be denied health care coverage all so that we could fund a tax cut for billionaires”
Irvine, CA — Representative Dave Min (CA-47), Dr. Kate Williamson, former President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Orange County Chapter, Mercedes Mata, the mother of Dino, a six-year-old brain cancer patient from Huntington Beach who relies on Medicaid, and Joy Anne Fumera, a registered nurse at Kaiser Permanente Orange County, spoke out against the consequences Republican Medicaid cuts will have on Orange County families.
“Children’s hospitals like CHOC across the state of California are going to be closed down if these Medicaid cuts go through,” said Rep. Min. “This is not just going to impact Medicaid patients. It’s going to impact all of us who have children. It’s going to deny us from getting health care, emergency health care for our kids, because our hospitals just can’t afford to keep the doors open.”
“Forty percent of California births are covered by Medicaid. That is nearly half of our babies who are born in hospitals and getting support in those first few days, which is so crucial,” said Dr. Williamson. “Any cut to Medicaid will harm every single child who is removed from that program, and in fact, will harm every child in California because of the ripple effects that this will have on our state.”
“Right now, my patients are scared,” said Joy Anne Fumera. “Life is already so expensive. And cutting Medicaid means their families won’t be able to afford the health care costs. There’s no other option. Without Medicaid, they will not be able to receive the care that they need to remain healthy and productive members of society.”
“CCS, for me, means my son is alive,” said Mercedes Matta. “Over 40 million children are covered by Medicaid across the US, and over one third of the children who are on Medicaid are being diagnosed with cancer. And that includes my son. I do have my own private insurance for Blue Shield, but it’s not enough…Who are you going to rely on if you cut these programs? Children all over are going to be at risk. And truly, it could be a death sentence for them.”
“From children getting their needed health care services to community members getting mental health services to older adults getting the treatment that they need, so many AAPI community members are on Medicaid or here in California, we call it Medi-Cal”，Mary Anne Foo, Executive Director of Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance. “We serve about 80,000 people a year in Orange County, and about 60% of them serving are on Medi-Cal and we’re very concerned about their health care access.”
“At Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center, we provide intergenerational services, not only to older adults in the community, but also to their family members. The cut can significantly impact a lot of the community members we serve, they won’t have the basic essential medical care that they need，” said Luna Lu, Clinical Director of AASCSC, “many AAPI community members are already struggling with housing，food，the medical bill will be one more item on their concern list. So we really want to advocate for our community members.”
