Los Angeles County leaders have never waited for permission to protect residents, especially when our health is on the line.
H.R. 1, the massive federal budget bill passed last year, delivered devastating cuts to Medicaid. Those cuts threaten the very foundation of our health care safety net. In Los Angeles County, these cuts will not be confined to those who rely on Medi-Cal. They will reach every insured household, because health care is a shared system. When one-part collapses, access shrinks and costs rise for everyone.
That is why Los Angeles County leaders are acting now. Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell and Los Angeles County Board Chair and Supervisor Hilda L. Solis are proposing to place a measure on the June ballot through their motion “Securing Funding to Preserve Critical County Services Cut by H.R.1.” This measure would give voters a chance to provide reliable, locally controlled funding that stabilizes critical services like our health care system and protect residents from the effects of federal cuts. Supervisors Kathryn Barger, Janice Hahn and Lindsey P. Horvath should join them and let the voters decide this June.
H.R. 1 is expected to claw back $750 million every year from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, which operates four public hospitals and roughly two dozen clinics. These cuts would force layoffs of thousands of health care workers, reduce services and close access points across the county.
At the same time, more than 1 million low-income Angelenos are expected to lose Medi-Cal coverage, while health insurance premiums for middle- and working-class families could nearly double. When people can’t afford coverage, they delay care until it becomes urgent. Emergency rooms become the only option left.
Overcrowded emergency rooms mean longer waits, worse outcomes, and rising costs that hospitals pass on to patients and insurers. Even Angelenos with private insurance will feel it: higher premiums, larger deductibles, longer wait times, and longer travel to access care.
Across the county, over 2 million residents rely on community health clinics for primary and preventive care. These clinics are not just a safety net; they are a pressure valve. They keep people out of emergency rooms, provide high-quality care close to home, and lower health care costs for the entire system. Over the past decade, they have become the primary source of care for one in three Medi-Cal recipients in Los Angeles County.
But clinics cannot do this work without stable funding.
The proposed ballot measure, supported by the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County and Restore Healthcare for Angelenos, would allow voters to establish a temporary half-cent general sales tax, set to expire in 2031. The revenue would protect critical services, preserve the health care workforce, and help prevent medical costs from spiraling further out of control.
Importantly, a part of the funding would be dedicated to protecting safety-net hospitals – facilities that serve our most vulnerable residents and which are a critical element of our safety net. The measure would give residents a chance to provide stability in a time of uncertainty. It would protect access to timely care, preserve frontline health care jobs, and help shield Angelenos from the cascading cost increases triggered by deep Medi-Cal cuts.
By advancing this measure, the board can stand with hospitals, clinics, and health care workers – and most importantly, with residents across all 88 cities and unincorporated communities who depend on a functioning health care system. At a time of unprecedented federal disinvestment, Los Angeles County must act to protect essential services, rein in rising health care costs and keep control of our collective health.
Louise McCarthy is the president and chief executive of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, a member of the Restore Healthcare for Angelenos Coalition.