Hundreds of healthcare workers and others massed in Anaheim Hills on Tuesday, shouting their anger over expected cuts to Medicaid and what they stand to lose.
Local resident Cynthia Williams, who was among those protesting outside Republican Congresswoman Young Kim’s office, said she knew exactly where the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, needed to trim the fat.
“Cut these billionaires; go cut them off,” Williams said. “Medi-Cal cuts affect real lives, human beings that need care.”
The group of about 200 workers, their supporters and constituents of Kim decried potential cuts to Medi-Cal, as Medicaid is known in California, and excoriated President Trump and tech titan Elon Musk, head of DOGE. The administration’s budget resolution proposes billions in tax and spending cuts. Although Trump has said he wouldn’t support cutting Medicaid, which provides health services for low-income people, the Congressional Budget Office has said it would be impossible to achieve his promised savings without cutting such programs.
Around noon on Tuesday, protesters dodged vehicles entering and exiting the business park just off the 91 Freeway. Five workers and residents spoke for about 20 minutes before the group marched to the front of Kim’s office. There, about 30 protesters, dressed in medical gowns, held up signs with faux bloody handprints and performed a die-in.
Fight for Our Health Coalition led the rally, which included representatives from healthcare unions SEIU-UHW and SEIU-2015 and a slew of other healthcare and senior advocacy groups.
Callie Strock, a representative for Kim, said the congresswoman was appreciative of the work of advocates on healthcare issues.
“She is committed to protecting and strengthening our healthcare system, including vital Medicaid services for our most vulnerable, and has worked across the aisle to expand access to care for her constituents,” Strock said in an email.
Kim released a statement on Feb. 26 about the House continuing resolution, to avert a partial government shutdown, noting that it “provides a framework for fiscal spending and does not make cuts to any specific programs.”
She added, “As this process moves forward, I will continue to make clear that a budget that does not protect vital Medicaid services for the most vulnerable, provide tax relief for small businesses, and address the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions will not receive my vote.”
As with others at Tuesday’s protest, the issue was personal for Josephine Rios.
The nursing assistant, 55, has worked at Kaiser Permanente Orange County Irvine Medical Center for seven years. She said she was protesting on behalf of her 7-year-old grandson, Elijah, who has cerebral palsy.
Rios said her grandson depends on $5,000 worth of medication and therapy a month, including physical, speech and occupational therapy. He also receives injections that help prevent “uncontrollable seizures.”
She’s worried cuts to Medi-Cal will make his medication unaffordable and his life miserable.
“Stripping that away from him will make him home-bound,” Rios said. “Stripping his medication is life-threatening.”
Rios said she felt betrayed by Kim, having voted for the representative in a grueling election that saw the Orange County conservative win her third consecutive term in November.
“I was her strongest advocate, and I helped elect her into office,” Rios said. “I convinced friends and family to vote for her.”
Rios added, “If she votes to cut Medi-Cal, I’m going to advocate just as strong to get her out of office.”
As Reuters recently reported, Republican lawmakers are divided on the issue. Some say they wouldn’t cut benefits but would overhaul Medicaid. Others believe it should be preserved as the country faces the possibility of recession.
Rios’ fellow protester Williams said she is a recipient of Medi-Cal’s In-Home Support Services and is a full-time caregiver for a sister battling Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and for her daughter, Kailee, who is blind.
“This program is a lifeline for my family,” she said. “We can’t afford these cuts.”
Williams and her family are among 157,000 residents, or 21% of the population, in Rep. Kim’s congressional district reliant on Medi-Cal, according to the California Budget and Policy Center.
The public advocacy group posits that cuts could affect 82,000 adults, or 55% of the district’s population.
Ian Kamus, a spokesperson for the labor advocacy group OC Action, said Tuesday he understood the need for trimming waste and fraud, but he did not agree with what he saw as the methods of DOGE and the Republican-backed Congress.
“Making sure that the government is efficient is a good thing,” said Kamus, an Aliso Viejo resident, “but they’re just cutting whatever, and they don’t really understand how it impacts people.”
