Ulises Hernandez, of Bakersfield, Calif., has had health coverage through Medicaid for as long as he can remember. But he had never waited as long for care as he did in September after a dental crown slipped down his throat during a procedure. He spent eight hours in an emergency room waiting for care and more than two days without food.
This story was produced in partnership with KFF Health News. Sitting in his wheelchair to protest looming federal Medicaid cuts outside Republican U.S. David Valadao's Bakersfield office, Hernandez described his wait as a foreshadowing of what's ahead.
"I couldn't eat, I couldn't drink, I couldn't do anything, and I was in pain," said Hernandez, who had been discharged from the hospital a few days before. "I'm livid." Hernandez, 41, said Valadao "should be ashamed of himself" for voting for the Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The law is expected to reduce Medicaid spending by more than $900 billion through 2034, with provisions such as stricter Medicaid eligibility rules and reducing federal money to states.
Hernandez plans to vote for challenger Randy Villegas in hopes that this Central Valley toss-up district, where roughly 6 in 10 of constituents are enrolled in Medicaid, can help give Democrats control of Congress. Villegas, a political science professor, has embraced the progressive rallying cry for "Medicare for All" and called out Valadao for a vote "that is going to rip away healthcare from Valley families," since many working-age adults may not satisfy new work requirements and twice-a-year eligibility checks that, by political design, start after the midterm elections. Valadao defends his vote on the GOP bill.
During a televised Oct. 6 debate, he said "there are no actual cuts" to Medicaid. An estimated 60,000 more residents of his district could be without coverage by 2034 due to the tax and spending bill and the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act insurance plans, according to the left-leaning Center for American Progress think tank. Researchers estimate that those new rules will push more than 2 million Californians statewide off their coverage and that the state stands to lose about $30 billion a year, more than any other state.
Bakersfield is an oil town, and it wears that identity proudly. Pump jacks nod in the distance. The Kern River's bed lies dry, its water siphoned to feed the agricultural fields.
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