Kern, Tulare Counties Brace for Crisis Caused by Possible Medi-Cal Cuts
By Victoria Clayton, California Health Care Foundation | Updated April 03, 2025
A recent article examining the potential impact of federal Medicaid cuts features insights from Clinica Sierra Vista and other healthcare leaders. The article explains that communities in the Central Valley, particularly in Kern and Tulare counties, where nearly two-thirds of residents are enrolled in Medi-Cal, may face serious negative impacts due to proposed federal budget cuts.
Dr. Matthew Beare, a physician with Clinica Sierra Vista’s Bakersfield health center, expressed serious concerns about the potential impact:
“It is gut-wrenching, infuriating, and deeply alarming to consider what this area will look like if these cuts go through. The consequences of losing access to health care would be devastating, affecting friends, coworkers, families, and neighbors. Beyond the human cost, the economic impact will be enormous, as hospitals and clinic systems that are specifically structured to care for Medicaid recipients will be thrown into financial instability.”
Dr. Matthew Beare, MD
Dr. Olga Meave, CEO of Clinica Sierra Vista, emphasized the potential impact on both patients and the healthcare workforce:
“With cuts, there’s no doubt that the health care workforce here will have to be reduced. If cuts mean we are only able to serve half of the patients we currently see, what happens to the other half? Do they just show up at the emergency room? Our hospitals can’t take up the slack, and they shouldn’t be expected to.”
Dr. Olga Meave, MD
The article highlights the crucial role Medi-Cal plays in healthcare access in the Central Valley, where Clinica Sierra Vista provides hundreds of thousands of medical visits annually and employs more than 1,500 community members.
Read the full article at www.chcf.org
(Photo by www.chcf.org: Elaine Berg lives in Bakersfield with her 45-year-old son, “Poppy” Stewart, right, who has Down syndrome. Both are Medi-Cal enrollees. Daniel Montes, Stewart’s friend since high school, is at left. Photo: Adam G. Perez)
