{"id":649379,"date":"2026-03-12T02:47:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T02:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/649379\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T02:47:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T02:47:19","slug":"north-bay-lawmakers-hold-town-hall-focused-on-the-impacts-of-federal-health-care-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/649379\/","title":{"rendered":"North Bay lawmakers hold town hall focused on the impacts of federal health care cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lea el art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressdemocrat.com\/2026\/03\/11\/recortes-de-salud-en-la-mira-legisladores-del-norte-de-la-bahia-alertan-sobre-crisis-fiscalde-los-hospitales\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">aqu\u00ed.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>State and federal lawmakers in Santa Rosa painted a dire picture Tuesday of the impacts of federal health care cuts under the Trump administration, including skyrocketing insurance premiums, the loss of health coverage for millions of Californians and the likely closure of rural hospitals and community clinics.<\/p>\n<p>Those cuts include nearly $1 trillion to Medicaid over a decade stemming from Trump\u2019s 2025 tax cut and spending bill, as well as the expiration of more than $32 billion in enhanced Affordable Care Act tax subsidies, state Sen. Mike McGuire said during a town hall meeting at Santa Rosa High School\u2019s auditorium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means 3 million Californians by mid 2027 will be without health care for months, if not years, until this madness is reversed,\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"mng-gallery-initialized mng-gallery-slider\">\n<li data-index=\"1\" class=\"mng-ge mng-gallery-active\" id=\"mng-ge-0\" aria-hidden=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"North Bay elected officials and health care advocates hold a...\" class=\"size-article_inline\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-jb0311_health_002_98a412.jpg\"\/>\n<p>North Bay elected officials and health care advocates hold a town hall meeting on the rising cost of health care, efforts to lower costs for families, and the path forward for universal coverage Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at Santa Rosa High School. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"2\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"From left, Meghan Hardin, regional VP of the California Hospital...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-jb0311_health_003_bc9518.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-jb0311_health_003_bc9518.jpg\"\/>\n<p>From left, Meghan Hardin, regional VP of the California Hospital Council, Gaby Bernal Leroi, CEO of Santa Rosa Community Health and Ryan Skolnick with the CA Nurses Association joined local elected officials at a town hall meeting on health care, Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at Santa Rosa High School. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"3\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"From left to right, Rep Mike Thompson, Rep. Jared Huffman...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-jb0311_health_001.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-jb0311_health_001.jpg\"\/>\n<p>From left to right, Rep Mike Thompson, Rep. Jared Huffman and state Sen. Mike McGuire hold a town hall meeting on the rising cost of health care, efforts to lower costs for families, and the path forward for universal coverage Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at Santa Rosa High School. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Show Caption<\/p>\n<p>1 of 3<\/p>\n<p>North Bay elected officials and health care advocates hold a town hall meeting on the rising cost of health care, efforts to lower costs for families, and the path forward for universal coverage Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at Santa Rosa High School. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\" class=\"icon-enlarge mng-gallery-fullscreen-expand\" aria-label=\"Expand fullscreen slideshow\">Expand<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The town hall, dubbed \u201cAmerican Healthcare on Life Support,\u201d was organized by McGuire, D-Healdsburg, and U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena and Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.<\/p>\n<p>All three lawmakers are vying for election this year.<\/p>\n<p>McGuire, who is term limited in the Legislature, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressdemocrat.com\/2026\/03\/06\/james-gallagher-audrey-denney-officially-enter-congressional-race\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">is running for the open 1st District seat in the House of Representatives<\/a> \u2014 both for the remainder of the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa\u2019s term this year and the full term starting in 2027 \u2014 while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressdemocrat.com\/2026\/03\/02\/letters-to-the-editor-monday-march-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thompson (4th District)<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressdemocrat.com\/2026\/03\/09\/marin-ranch-owner-challenges-huffman-in-congressional-race\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Huffman (2nd District)<\/a> are running for re-election in redrawn districts that together with the 1st cover most of Northern California.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to be blunt, the United States is spending $1 billion dollars a day on the war in Iran,\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe American people are against it, yet they can pay for this war in Iran and cut all of our health care at the same time,\u201d he said, adding that dozens of hospitals and health centers across the country will close because of federal health care cuts.<\/p>\n<p>The town hall also featured a panel discussion with state and local health care leaders, including Meghan Hardin, regional vice president of the California Hospital Council; Dr. Nicole Barnett, CEO of Planned Parenthood NorCal; Gaby Bernal Leroi, CEO of Santa Rosa Community Health; and Ryan Skolnick, a community organizer with California Nurses Association.<\/p>\n<p>Skolnick discussed the latest campaign to establish single payer health coverage system in the state. Assembly Bill 1900, which is sponsored by the state nurses union, would establish the California Guaranteed Health Care for All program, or CalCare, to provide comprehensive, universal health coverage. It is the third time in the past five years the union has sponsored single-payer legislation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe nurses have been fighting for this because nurses will not accept the system that prioritizes profits over patients,\u201d Skolnick said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur current system is not normal,\u201d he said. \u201cNowhere else in the world does things the way we do here\u2026guaranteed health care for all is the norm in many countries around the world who have far better health care than we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hardin of the California Hospital Council warned that federal health care cuts will push many struggling hospitals over a financial cliff. Hospitals have been struggling for years, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, 44% of hospitals in the state of California operate at a loss and about one in 10 are at risk of closing,\u201d she said. \u201cIn the past three years alone, two California hospitals have closed entirely; 22 hospitals have<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressdemocrat.com\/2024\/06\/27\/providence-to-pay-10-million-to-settle-dispute-over-closure-of-petaluma-maternity-ward-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> shut down maternity units<\/a> just to say afloat; and 12 counties are entirely without maternity care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Huffman and Thompson both said they were doing what they could to oppose further erosion of the federal health care safety net. They stressed the importance of Democrats taking back control of Congress in the November general election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t take $1 trillion dollars out of health care and expect us to have any type of viable health care,\u201d Thompson said, adding that the result will be an estimated 15 million Americans losing their coverage under Medicaid, the federal program for lower income households and disabled individuals.<\/p>\n<p>Gaby Bernal Leroi, the CEO of Santa Rosa Community Health, said the Medicaid cuts represent a significant financial blow to her organization, which serves a large share of immigrants in the Santa Rosa area.<\/p>\n<p>Already, much of that community has been driven further into the shadows by the federal government\u2019s aggressive crackdown on immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody is afraid, even people who are insured or are eligible are sometimes afraid to come in for care or are considering dropping their coverage for fear of the immigration consequences,\u201d Bernal Leroi said.<\/p>\n<p>Bernal pointed out that new Medicaid renewal requirements under Trump\u2019s tax and spending law could lead to people losing their Medi-Cal coverage, the state\u2019s Medicaid program. The law calls for revolving renewal redeterminations every six months, compared to the current annual re-enrollment requirement.<\/p>\n<p>During the Q&amp;A session of the town hall, a member of the audience raised concern about the ability of county social services workers to process twice as many Medi-Cal renewals. Sonoma County has struggled in recent years to fill gaping job vacancies in its Human Services Department.<\/p>\n<p>Barnett of Planned Parenthood NorCal stressed the importance of state leadership as an antidote to federal cuts to critical services, including reproductive health care. After the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v Wade, striking down the federal right to abortion care, California took significant steps to protect abortion rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDozens of laws were introduced in the state and more than 30 were actually enacted, alongside with $200 million in state investments to strengthen access to reproductive health services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>When President Trump\u2019s tax policy and spending bill was adopted last July, it included an immediate defunding of Planned Parenthood, one of the nation\u2019s largest providers of reproductive health care, leaving it unable to get reimbursements tied to Medicaid patients.<\/p>\n<p>California responded by providing $90 million dollars in emergency funding to keep Planned Parenthood services available.<\/p>\n<p>Hardin of the hospital council warned the fraying of the nation\u2019s safety net will affect everybody in the country. She said the loss of health coverage will lead to fewer primary and preventative care visits and, as a result, more emergency room visits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you have employer provided health insurance, and you think that this won\u2019t touch you, it will,\u201d she said. \u201cHospitals grow more crowded, wait times get longer and costs rise across the system. This becomes an everyone problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lea el art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol aqu\u00ed. State and federal lawmakers in Santa Rosa painted a dire picture Tuesday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":649380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[7023,210,1141,1142,104311,3170,275859,275860,7045,275858,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-649379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-affordable-care-act","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-jared-huffman","tag-medicaid","tag-mike-mcguire","tag-mike-thompson","tag-obamacare","tag-single-payer","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116213923640991070","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}