Countdown
Millions of Californians are about to lose their health care
And every Californian will feel the impact.
When people lose health care coverage, their medical needs don’t go away. Instead, they often delay care until there’s an emergency. While hospital emergency departments are there for all in need, they are already seeing record-high levels of patients, and those numbers will only grow — along with wait times.
When emergency departments are the first place people turn to for care, costs go up for everyone. Treating someone in an emergency department is far more expensive than a visit to a primary care doctor.
Patients that delay care often experience worse outcomes, with their health deteriorating further the longer they wait.
Get The Facts
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44% of hospitals already operate in the red
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OBBBA will strip $40B+ from hospital care over the next 10 years
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80 hospitals are at heightened risk of closure, with dozens more closing services just to remain afloat
Cuts to any part of the health care system are cuts to care for all Californians.
Newsroom
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Wall Street Journal
Hospitals Are So Crowded Patients Spend 24 Hours in the E.R. Hallways
By Peter Loftus
November 6, 2026
You are in the emergency room. You have been told you are being admitted. And then, you wait. And wait. Four, 12, maybe even 24 hours, still stuck in the E.R., waiting for a bed to open up.
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KSBW Action News 8
Watsonville hospital faces possible closure as it loses $86,000 a day
By Ehvan Fennell
October 23, 2026
Watsonville Community Hospital is losing $86,000 daily and has only five days of cash reserves left, putting its future in jeopardy and forcing consideration of drastic service cuts.
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East Bay Times
More patients without insurance are arriving at Bay Area hospitals
By Grant Stringer
October 12, 2026
More than 1 million Californians could lose health insurance as the Trump administration restricts access to Medi-Cal, the government coverage program for low-income people. In an early warning sign, more patients without insurance are already arriving at Bay Area hospitals.
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Breastcancer.org
Hundreds of Hospitals May Close or Cut Services
By Bec Roldan
October 10, 2026
Nearly 450 hospitals across the United States are at risk of closing or cutting services due to Medicaid cuts, according to a report by the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. The hospitals served a total of 6.6 million people in 2024. These closures may particularly affect people who make a lower income and/or travel long distances for care.
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LAist
‘It’s Triage’: California’s next governor will face destabilizing surge in uninsured
By Christine Mai-Duc
September 8, 2026
By the time Democrat Xavier Becerra left Washington, D.C., more Americans than ever had health insurance, owing partly to his work over the years to pass, defend, and expand the Affordable Care Act.
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CalMatters
Medicaid cuts stand to hit everyone (yes, even you). Here’s why
By Kristen Hwang
August 7, 2026
When Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital closed in 2007, neighboring Los Angeles hospitals struggled to keep up with the influx of new patients. They reported emergency department wait times longer than 11 hours, more trauma cases and more uninsured patients.
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Los Angeles Times
Struggling to survive, South L.A.’s MLK hospital seeks greater share of county funds
By Connor Sheets
August 3, 2026
Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Willowbrook is the main emergency medical care option for hundreds of thousands of South Los Angeles residents, but space is so tight that many patients are treated in large metal-frame tents on the pavement outside.
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Sacramento Bee
Roseville’s Adventist Health lays off more than 100 employees in California
By Emma Hall
July 1, 2026
Adventist Health, a nonprofit healthcare system with its headquarters in Roseville, has laid off more than 100 employees across multiple California-based facilities.
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Desert Sun
83 California hospitals at risk due to Medicaid cuts, report finds
By James Ward
April 21, 2026
A recent report from a left-leaning think tank found California has 83 hospitals at heightened risk of closing, cutting services, or laying off staff as a result of major federal Medicaid cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a budget reconciliation law signed last year.
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Orange County Register
California hospitals laying off thousands as funding cuts trickle down
By Pat Maio
March 22, 2026
Over the past year, hospitals have felt the pain of thousands of layoffs — some even pushed into dire financial straits — as they have been stripped of billions of dollars in federal and state funding for health care.
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CBS News
Medicaid cuts trigger layoffs at East Bay hospitals serving Alameda County's most vulnerable
By Da Lin
January 9, 2026
Several East Bay hospitals that serve Alameda County's most vulnerable residents have issued layoff notices to staff, citing major federal cuts to Medicaid that administrators say will significantly affect their finances.
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Los Angeles Times
Federal healthcare cuts could affect coverage for millions of Californians, state officials say
By Katie King
October 28, 2025
SACRAMENTO — The state does not have the fiscal capacity to make up for the massive, oncoming federal cuts to healthcare programs used by millions of vulnerable Californians, a stark reality that will force state lawmakers to consider reducing benefits and eligibility and swell the number of residents without medical insurance.