Representative Tran Addresses Local Concerns Regarding Funding Cuts to Medicaid, Hospitals
Orange County, CA – U.S. Representative Derek Tran (CA-45) returned to California’s 45th district to visit local hospitals and address medical workers’ concerns about the community-level impacts of funding cuts to Medicaid and the broader health care system.
Tran met with administrators and frontline health care staff at UC Irvine’s Health Center in Los Alamitos and at MemorialCare Orange Coast’s facility in Fountain Valley. He heard how the Trump Administration’s attempts to circumvent reimbursing hospitals for the care they are providing would strain Orange County’s health care infrastructure, especially amid widespread staffing shortages. Slashed funding for preventative care services in particular would drive more traffic to already-understaffed hospital emergency departments, where patients have been subject to long wait times and face difficulty accessing life-saving care.
Representative Tran and Representative Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) also spoke out in defense of Medicaid on a Tuesday panel hosted by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals. Tran highlighted the drastic impacts of the GOP-led budget proposal that would strip 44,000 residents of California’s 45th district of essential health care provided through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid, and leave hundreds of thousands more at risk of losing specialized care. He also discussed how the proposed elimination of ACA coverage subsidies, as well as the reinstatement of high tariffs on imported medical equipment, will drive up the cost of care for Southern California families.
Tran continues to meet with local stakeholders to assess his community’s health care needs and ensure that every constituent has access to quality, affordable health care. He has consistently rejected attempts to cut funding for Medicaid, including by voting against the Republican budget proposal that eliminates billions in funding for basic-needs services. He also signed a discharge petition in the House to bring H.R. 2753, the Hands Off Medicaid and SNAP Act, to the House floor for a vote. Tran co-led H.R. 3238, the HABLA Act, to protect multilingual access to health care services, and cosponsored several bills in support of women’s health care and abortion access. Tran is a Member of the Community Health Centers Caucus and the Reproductive Freedom Caucus.
Congressman Derek Tran represents California’s 45th Congressional District. Serving his first term in Congress, Congressman Tran is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Small Business Committee, where he is Ranking Member of the Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations Subcommittee. Congressman Tran is the son of Vietnamese refugees, a Veteran, and fought for consumers as an attorney before entering Congress.