Sierra View Medical Center

Sierra View Medical Center in Porterville on Tuesday issued a warning about proposed cuts to the Medicaid program that could eliminate up to $880 billion.

Medi-Cal, California’s version of the federal Medicaid program, serves over 15 million people statewide — nearly 40% of the state population — including more than 2.2 million people in the Central Valley.

Tuesday’s news release from Sierra View expressed concerns, specifically highlighting challenges in Tulare and Kern counties, where up to two-thirds of residents rely on Medi-Cal coverage.

Safety-net hospitals — hospitals that provide care in underserved communities regardless of patient financial, insurance or immigration status — fear they will be pushed to the brink if cuts proceed as planned. Further cuts could reduce reimbursement for safety-net hospitals.

“More than 41% of our patients rely on Medi-Cal for access to essential health services,” said Sierra View Medical Center President and CEO Donna Hefner. “Cuts of this magnitude would severely destabilize local health care systems like ours, threatening the very foundation of care in the Central Valley.”

Hefner, a Valley native who has worked in health care for more than 30 years, said she has seen firsthand the progress of expanded access to medical care, adding that access to Medi-Cal has been critical in helping families avoid both unpreventable conditions and medical debt.

“Reversing that progress would hurt not just individual families, but the health of our entire community,” she added.

Earlier this month, District 21 Rep. Jim Costa held an over-the-phone town hall in which constituents were presented the opportunity to comment on issues presented by the proposed cuts.

“This congressional district that you live in — that I represent — has the third-highest Medicaid recipient population of all the congressional districts in America,” Costa said during the event. “Of my 800,000 constituents, 456,000 are covered by Medicaid.”

Talk about cuts is ramping up as Congress considers what has been referred to as the “megabill” and “big, beautiful bill” that includes an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, spending reductions, more defense and border spending and raising the debt ceiling.

“We urge policymakers to recognize the full human and economic consequences of these proposed cuts,” Hefner added. “We ask that they protect Medi-Cal and ensure that safety-net hospitals like Sierra View Medical Center can continue to care for the heart of California’s Central Valley. Our patients, our families, and our communities are counting on it.”