In anticipation of the Trump administration's major cuts to Medicaid, the Alameda Health System, which runs public hospitals and clinics throughout the East Bay, is planning to lay off nearly 300 people in January. "I think they're bowing to pressures before those pressures have actually come into play," Reilly Gardine, a clinical dietitian at Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus in Oakland, told KQED on Monday. "And I think they're not being creative enough in figuring out alternative ways for funding."
LAFAYETTE The campus at Las Trampas bustled as it usually does on the typical weekday, with dozens of intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals engaging with programs designed to stimulate and assist their independent living. This day, though, was busier than most. State Sen. Tim Grayson (D-CA9) would be visiting them, touring the grounds and meeting with some of the members, who Las Trampas empowers to advocate for themselves.
Decades of progress in HIV treatment and preventionin the United Statesis being derailed by the Trump administration, public health experts say - and without reversing course, the damage will be devastating. Threats to key federal programs are unfolding just as science has significantly advanced how easily patients can treat and manage HIV - leaving experts deeply frustrated. The development of a vaccine, which researchers believed was closer than ever to becoming a reality, is now dead in its tracks.
Measure A on the Nov. 4 ballot in Santa Clara County would raise the sales tax by five-eighths of a cent. The measure would push the sales tax rate to at least 9.75% in the county, with higher rates in Los Gatos (9.875%), San Jose (10%), Milpitas (10%) and Campbell (10.5%). The increase would raise $330 million a year, according to county officials.
Through North Carolina's Medicaid program, Maklakoff qualifies for a large slate of medical care in the family's home in Chapel Hill. Fabrello said she works with staffing agencies to arrange services. She also learned to give the care ordinarily performed by a doctor, skilled nurse, or highly trained therapist because she often can't get help. Now, broad cuts to North Carolina Medicaid will make finding and paying for care even more difficult.
In 2018, Democrats took advantage of the years-long Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act that had given millions of Americans access to health insurance along with the first Trump administration's bureaucratic efforts to limit the Obamacare law. This time, they stand to benefit from GOP support for a series of unpopular health policies that will cost millions their health care coverage, increase the cost for others and, even worse, possibly trigger the kinds of childhood epidemics not seen in recent years.
As President Donald Trump openly contemplates sending military forces into more American cities, the leading congressional Democrats almost invariably describe his actions as an attempt to create a "distraction" from something else - whether that's the cost of living, the massive Medicaid cuts he signed into law, or the controversy around the Jeffrey Epstein files. That reflex captures the overwhelming preference of top DC Democrats to frame the 2026 election on familiar partisan grounds, particularly the charge that Trump has failed in his core 2024 promise to bring down the cost of living for average families.
Let me put it this way - everyone knows who the President of the United States is and who the president is who signed the law that has cut almost a trillion dollars from Medicaid,
And while the bill holds very limited benefits for tipped workers, it also lays out major cuts to both SNAP and Medicaid benefits, both social services that restaurant workers in particular must lean on, according to a recent report from One Fair Wage. SNAP faces $186 billion in funding cuts, while Medicaid will be cut by nearly $1 trillion.
More than three million Californians are expected to lose health coverage in the next several years due to federal Medicaid cuts. At the same time, over half of Californians say they have skipped or delayed care because of rising costs -with nearly half in that group saying their health got worse as a result. As leaders of health organizations serving Alameda County, Santa Cruz and the Central Coast, we can say unequivocally that these are the two greatest health challenges we've faced since the pandemic:
AHS expects to be disproportionately impacted by Medicaid cuts as 70-80% of its funding comes from federal and state healthcare reimbursements. AHS estimates a $100 million annual budget deficit when the full extent of cuts is implemented by 2030.
The bill, which was signed into law on July 2, enacts the largest Medicaid funding cuts in U.S. history, slashing around $1 trillion from the program. Congressional budget estimates predict that over 10 million Americans will lose Medicaid coverage within the next 10 years.
The government's removal of Medicaid funding has led to five Planned Parenthood clinics in California closing due to unsustainable financial strains, impacting low-income women's healthcare access.
