The following is a column submitted by Mendocino County 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mendocino Voice.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors held a workshop on healthcare in Mendocino County on Sept. 10. With 42,000 recipients of Medi-Cal in Mendocino County, the implications of cuts to Medicaid — which funds Medi-Cal to a large extent — and other provisions of H.R. 1, or the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” are significant.
There is a real concern that people will lose their Medi-Cal coverage or Affordable Care Act coverage. This could lead to untreated conditions increasing, homelessness up, overdose rates up, suicide rates up. Decreases in school-based mental health services and healthy foods for school programs will affect our schools.
There were warnings of the effects of increased numbers of uninsured people and the adverse impact on ambulance services, increased 911 calls, reduction of ambulance payments, etc.
Overall in the county, 600 health care jobs are projected to be lost due to these cuts. The county’s share of certain programs will go up too. SNAP funding brings in $3.2 million each month to the county, and the county will have an increased share of the costs, which will be $600,000. While in other programs, the county is already paying penalties due to insufficient administrative allocations for staffing. One example of this is that the county pays $10,000 a month in penalties for In Home Support Services for cases that have not had timely reassessments.
Collaboration amongst the healthcare providers, clinics and hospitals was a positive. There is a need for everyone to be advocating for support for rural healthcare at all levels of government.
If you want more information, you can watch the meeting on YouTube, listen to the meeting in the KZYX archives, or see mendovoice.com/2025/09/healthcare-summit-predicts-grim-future-for-mendocino-county-residents/.
Finally, the new Willits Library roof is in place.
There will be a Talk with the Supervisor on October 9 at 10:00 a.m. at Brickhouse Coffee, 3 S. Main St., Willits. You can always contact me at haschakj@mendocinocounty.gov or call 707-972-4214.
No support! Not until “the people will lose their Medi-Cal coverage” is changed to illegal immigrants will lose their Medi-Cal coverage.” Then citizens will be the priority and worth supporting. Let’s see some numbers on this to see how big of a problem it really is. Or is the cover-up going to continue?
Medicaid (known as MediCal in California) is already illegal for undocumented immigrants!
Emergency room service is required for ANYONE (regardless of insurance) according to a law signed by Ronald Reagan.
Prop 50 is a temporary measure that California is proposing to counter the gerrymandering that other states are doing to skew the midterm elections.
California is acting on a national level to help preserve democracy and act with the authority and power it has to help the nation and people who don’t have the voices to defend themselves.
Have you noticed that the cuts to healthcare (according to the “big beautiful bill” don’t go into effect until after the midterm elections?
Do you know that elimination of the ACA credits with raise EVERYONE’S MediCal premium by $740 per month?
Please vote!
And please vote yes on Prop 50.
Medicaid (known as MediCal in California) is already illegal for undocumented immigrants!
Emergency room service is required for ANYONE (regardless of insurance) according to a law signed by Ronald Reagan.
Prop 50 is a temporary measure that California is proposing to counter the gerrymandering that other states are doing to skew the midterm elections.
California is acting on a national level to help preserve democracy and act with the authority and power it has to help the nation and people who don’t have the voices to defend themselves.
Have you noticed that the cuts to healthcare (according to the “big beautiful bill”) don’t go into effect until after the midterm elections?
Do you know that elimination of the ACA credits with raise EVERYONE’S MediCal premium by $740 per month?
Please vote!
And please vote yes on Prop 50.
They do not get any medical services except emergency care at hospitals as signed by President Reagan.
If there are no illegals in Medi-Cal as claimed, why on June 13 did the California state lawmakers put a stop to new enrollments for immigrants without legal status? Explain that please. Also, adult immigrants without legal status who are currently enrolled in Medi-Cal will be required to pay a $100 monthly premium starting in 2027. Turns out they are in Medi-Cal after all. California has been using a complex Medicaid provision known as a “provider tax” to obtain matching federal dollars, which then gets pooled into the money used by the state to pay for its healthcare offered to undocumented immigrants. The numbers are kept from the public this way.