OAKLAND, CA – The California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH) and SEIU California released the following statements in response to Senate amendments to AB 108 (Budget Bill Junior) that would provide $25 million in additional Distressed Hospital Loan Program funding to help prevent the closure of hospitals in immediate and significant financial distress.
Katie Rodriguez Interim President and CEO, CAPH:
“We appreciate the Governor and Legislature hearing our call for help to navigate the destabilizing aftermath of federal healthcare cuts under H.R. 1 to our healthcare safety net. Keeping emergency departments, burn centers, and labor and delivery rooms open will require bolder measures. Nearly two million Californians will lose their coverage next year and public hospital systems face years of multi-billion losses that will inevitably result in stark service cuts without state support. The choices state leaders make now will decide how painful and deadly the crisis becomes in communities across California. While AB 108’s investment in the Distressed Hospital Loan Program is important, it is not sufficient. We urgently need the Governor and Legislature to not only invest in distressed hospitals, but also approve our request for $500 million as an initial step to stabilize our operations and protect access to healthcare. State leaders provided a $300 million lifeline to stabilize public hospital systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. H.R. 1 requires an even bigger response from the state because of the unprecedented cuts to Medi-Cal funding in H.R. 1.”
Theresa Rutherford, President, SEIU Local 1021 and Executive Board Member of SEIU California:
“H.R. 1 poses a pandemic-level threat to our public hospitals, only this time the state can’t count on federal partnership to keep the doors open to communities who need care. A crisis of these proportions calls for courageous state leadership. The lives who depend on it could belong to any of us.
“While the proposal to add $25 million to the Distressed Hospital Fund is a helpful step, SEIU members are in agreement with the Senate Democrat’s Foundation for the Future budget plan, which calls for greater investment to assist struggling hospitals and county health systems and workers, investments the state has neglected to make for over 20 years. Specifically, county healthcare workers call for $500 million for public hospitals, which is needed as nearly 2 million people could be forced out of Medi-Cal, creating unprecedented new uncompensated care costs.
“SEIU members are fighting for these investments not simply as healthcare workers. We are also parents and family members who rely on our public hospitals and health systems to be open when a loved one or a neighbor faces a life-threatening crisis. We are community members who see the consequences of too few behavioral health beds as people languish on our streets. We’ll keep fighting to bring in the revenues needed to keep Californians covered on Medi-Cal and keep hospital doors open by holding corporations accountable to pay their fair share.”
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