Yesterday, we stood alongside community members and advocates outside Rep. David Valadao’s Bakersfield office to call on Congress to reverse the largest health care cuts in U.S. history — cuts Valadao voted for in order to fund tax cuts for the ultra‑rich. On the 61st anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, we gathered not to celebrate, but to demand protection for programs that keep millions of families healthy, stable, and out of poverty.
The event brought together Fight for Our Health, Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte, Poder Latinx, and Economic Security California Action, along with local residents whose lives depend on these programs. We shared how Medicaid and Medicare keep families stable, ensure access to prescriptions, and support people with disabilities — including IHSS home care providers and clients who stand to lose critical care if these cuts continue.
Our District 5 Chair Sydney O’Connor spoke on behalf of home care provider Laura Flores, who could not attend. Sydney described what it truly means to be an IHSS provider: work built on strength, sacrifice, and heart. She shared Laura’s experiences, from caring for a homeless blind man with no support to now providing full‑time care for her parents. She reminded the crowd that while Medicare and Medicaid have existed for 61 years, IHSS has only been around for 27. With the largest cuts in history hitting families, Sydney called on everyone to rise up, vote, speak out, and stand together!
The event also featured The Empty Shelf, a memorial of empty prescription bottles, blank prescription pads, and personal stories. Each bottle represented a real medication — insulin, chemotherapy, blood pressure pills, asthma inhalers — that someone in the Central Valley could lose as Medicaid (Medi‑Cal) cuts take effect. Medicaid and Medicare cover 130 million Americans, with millions already losing coverage and millions more projected to. Medi‑Cal alone serves over 14 million Californians — one‑third of the state — and no congressional district relies on it more than Valadao’s, meaning these cuts will hit his Central Valley constituents hardest.
The message to Rep. Valadao was clear: he can stand with the families in his district who rely on Medicaid and Medicare, or continue supporting cuts that harm his own constituents. Yesterday’s action ensured he heard directly from the people he represents and the fight to protect health care is far from over.
