LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Congressman Mike Thompson, the chair of the Board of Supervisors and local health care leaders warned Friday that the newly passed Republican budget resolution may jeopardize access to care and create more food insecurity in Lake County, and they issued a joint call for action.

The House Republican-backed resolution directs several committees to reduce spending, including $880 billion in potential Medicaid cuts and $230 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program California, also known as SNAP.

In California, this would slash funding for Medi-Cal and CalFresh, two critical safety net programs, disproportionately affecting communities that heavily rely on them, including Lake County.

At a press conference Friday at the Lake County Tribal Health Consortium’s Lakeport campus, Thompson, Board of Supervisors Chair Eddie Crandell and six local health care leaders warned that these cuts could lead to hospital closures, reduced health care services, increased mental health crises and worsening food insecurity — outcomes they repeatedly called “devastating.”

In Lake County, over 35,000 out of its total 68,000 residents—more than half of the population — rely on MediCal for health care, and one in four residents depends on CalFresh for food, according to Lake County Behavioral Health Director Elise Jones.

“If these cuts go through, services will be reduced. Certain hospitals and facilities will cease to exist. Others will pare back their services to make way for those cuts,” Thompson said. “That means that everybody in the community will be punished.”

“So this is not a Tribal Health or Sutter or Adventist issue,” said Tribal Health CEO Ernesto Padilla. “This is a Lake County issue.”

Tribal Health receives 60 to 70% of its funding from Medi-Cal, Padilla told Lake County News after the press conference.

“This could be crippling,” Padilla said of the potential cuts.

A matter of life and death

While the cuts would impact the entire community, people relying directly on these federally funded health and food programs would suffer the most.

“For many who rely on MediCal, CalFresh and IHSS, this is truly a matter of life and death. Protecting these programs protects people,” said Jones.

“I see first hand how Medicaid funds critical mental health and substance use treatment that keep our residents housed, employed and alive,” Jones said, explaining the importance of each of the programs that will potentially get cut. “If these cuts move forward, we can expect devastating outcomes.”

For Rod Grainger, CEO of Mendocino Community Health Clinics, these cuts just “fly in the face of any compassionate, community-based, mission-driven organization.”

“We're going to be seeing — if this goes through — large increases in our health care deserts that already exist and are struggling,” he added.

“We then see the downstream from that, which then impacts other jobs and other industries within our county system. So please think long and hard about this, because it will impact all of us, not just people who have Medicaid or Medicare,” said Chuck Kassis, administrator for Adventist Health Clear Lake.

“These are not just statistics. They are real people in our community—our neighbors and friends,” said Lisa Morrow, executive director of the Lake Family Resource Center.

She highlighted the real-life impact of the cuts, pointing to single mothers struggling to provide for their children and elderly residents relying on Medicaid for essential medications and health checkups. There also is the potential for cuts to services such as suicide prevention, and support for victims of sexual assault and human trafficking.

For many families that are already struggling, “Medicaid provides them with a lifeline,” she said. “The consequences are dire and far reaching.”

Crandell told Lake County News that Jones and Social Services Director Rachel Dillman Parsons have been monitoring developments and updating the Board of Supervisors as the situation unfolds.

“County leadership is strategizing in order to be ready to adjust from the potential impacts,” he said.

Calling for action

The speakers at Friday’s press conference urged the public and policymakers to recognize the impact and take action to stop the cuts.

“The proposed cuts to Medicaid funding threaten to unravel the safety net that so many in our community rely on, we must remember that behind every policy decision, real lives are at stake,” Morrow said, urging policy makers to reconsider these cuts.

“I urge all of our federal representatives to fight these cuts as if their own life depended on it,” said Jones.

Crandell acknowledged the community’s resilience but stressed that some crises can and should be avoided.

“It’s unfortunate that we’ve been experienced with crisis, but we’ve always pulled together in a time of crisis,” Crandell said. “However, that doesn’t need to happen.”

“You, who are watching, please reach out to your elected officials or anyone that’s related to you that has elected officials,” Crandell said.

Thompson agreed, thanking Crandell for highlighting the community’s history of overcoming natural disasters.

“This is not a natural disaster; this is a man-made disaster,” Thompson said.

Thompson argued that these cuts at health care and food programs put the elderly, the disabled and children at risk, to finance “tax cuts to the richest people in our country — people making over $743,000 a year.”

“Please get the word out, let your friends know, your neighbors know,” Thompson said at the end of the press conference. “Let's not be silent about this.”

Email staff reporter Lingzi Chen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..