Congressman David Valadao backs bill cutting Medicaid, risking political fire | Opinion
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- The House passed a GOP-backed budget bill cutting $806B from Medicaid by 2035.
- Valadao's district, where 67% rely on Medicaid, faces major health coverage losses.
- New work, paperwork mandates may remove millions from Medicaid and ACA coverage.
When Republican congressman David Valadao joined his GOP colleagues in passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last month, he stressed that it would protect the most vulnerable people in his district who rely on Medicaid.
“From the very beginning, I was clear with House leadership: I would not support a final reconciliation bill that included any reduction in Medicaid coverage for our most vulnerable populations — children, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and pregnant women,” he said in a statement after the House passed the massive budget bill by a single vote.
All of California’s Republican House members voted for it, including Vince Fong of Bakersfield, whose district includes Clovis.
But Valadao, along with Fong and the other GOP colleagues, are playing with political fire. According to a new analysis by the Brookings Institution, the budget bill will slash Medicaid spending by $806 billion over the next decade — nearly the $880 billion that was originally planned.
Another $300 billion in federal support will be cut out of the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace coverage, Brookings says.
Brookings bases its findings on research by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“Perhaps no state has more to lose than California,” says the California Health Care Foundation in its understanding of the bill.
The CBO forecasts that 16 million Americans will be uninsured as a result of the bill.
No California representative has more of his district depending on Medicaid, called Medi-Cal in the state, than Valadao. Fully 67% of his 22nd District’s residents — people living in Kings, Kern and Tulare counties — depend on the federal health program for medical care.
Republicans like Valadao can say Medicaid is not being abandoned. But the Brookings analysis shows that most recipients will face major impacts by changes to the health program written into the bill.
Medicaid cuts
Some Medicaid recipients could lose coverage simply because they cannot meet new record-keeping requirements the One Big Beautiful Bill mandates, the Brookings analysis says.
Millions of Medicaid participants will need to report the hours they work to stay enrolled, or even get started in the program. “Similar past requirements have cut enrollment among those targeted by more than a third,” Brookings notes.
It is “quite likely that there will be people … who have reported disabilities, who have other chronic conditions, and … who are caring for children or elderly parents, who may also lose coverage” by not getting proper documents turned in, said Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of the health policy research group KFF. She was interviewed by FactCheck.org about the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Seniors on Medicare will have additional paperwork to fill out if they also need Medicaid. This could cut another 1 million out of coverage, Brookings estimates.
In another change, new financial charges will be levied on those whose income is just above the poverty line.
Immigrants with certain legal statuses will be left out of coverage entirely. Seniors in nursing homes may face new dangers as mandated staffing levels in those facilities are allowed to be reduced.
There are also impacts for those using Affordable Care Act marketplaces, Brookings says.
“A variety of overlapping provisions would require ACA Marketplace enrollees to submit additional paperwork or take other administrative steps to get coverage or financial assistance. Described as an attempt to prevent fraud, these paperwork burdens are nonetheless likely to result in many eligible enrollees becoming uninsured.”
The reconciliation bill increases premiums that ACA participants must pay, and allows companies in the marketplaces to cover fewer care costs.
Medi-Cal impacts
About 15 million Californians utilize Medi-Cal. Of that, 1.6 million seniors and people with disabilities are enrolled in the system, according to state data.
Another 5 million children are insured through Medi-Cal and the accompanying Children’s Health Insurance Program. It covers preventive care like immunizations and screenings, as well as support services, such as counseling and therapy, according to the Health Care Foundation.
Democratic congressman Jim Costa of Fresno noted how his district will be impacted if the One Big Beautiful Bill becomes law (the Senate is still to vote on it). As outlined in his news release about the measure after the House approved it:
- 456,532 people in the San Joaquin Valley on Medicaid are at risk of losing their health care, including 133,709 children under 19 years old, and 22,577 seniors over age 65.
- 131,000 people would lose their food stamps/SNAP benefits.
- 25,000 people who receive coverage through the Affordable Care Act would have their average premium go up by $1,870 per year — a 91% increase.
Costa did not support the bill. But President Donald Trump championed Republican backing for it.
Next year will be the 2026 midterm elections, with congressional representatives once again on the ballot.
In backing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Valadao and Fong showed they fear the wrath of Trump more than they do their own voters.
In 2017 Valadao voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Then in 2018 he lost his re-election bid. When Election Day draws near next year, Democrats will remind District 22 voters of Valadao’s support for the One Big Beautiful Bill, as they aim to again remove him from Congress over a crucial health-care vote.
This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Congressman David Valadao backs bill cutting Medicaid, risking political fire | Opinion."
