Get The Facts

A DANGEROUS ATTACK ON PATIENTS

• An independent study by the Berkeley Research Group found this proposition would cut $1.7 billion in the first year alone from community health centers and clinics. Eighty-eight percent of clinics will have negative operating margins because of the proposition.
• As a result, clinics that care for more than 11 million patients every year are at significant risk of being forced to cut back on services or even shut down.
• Community health centers and clinics provide essential primary care, prenatal care, urgent care, mental and behavioral health services, telehealth, and dental services. They serve 1 in 4 Medi-Cal patients, the uninsured, working families, seniors, veterans, and LGBTQ+ individuals—regardless of ability to pay.
• This proposition would cut healthcare for millions of patients already facing serious barriers to care.

EXCLUSIONS THREATEN TO CUT VITAL PATIENT SERVICES

• This poorly written measure excludes funding for important patient care and staff services. As a result, the following excluded services are at risk of being cut:

WOULD DECIMATE THE ENTIRE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM ALREADY UNDER SEVERE STRAIN

• In many rural and medically underserved communities, community health centers and clinics are the only source of care—often within hundreds of miles. This proposition will shut down the only source of care in many communities, forcing patients to drive hours or skip care altogether.
• Clinic closures and a reduction in services will lead patients to skip vital preventive care, increasing emergency room visits and worsening overcrowding and wait times for all patients.
• This proposition also eliminates funding for hundreds of school-based health clinics that provide primary and specialty care for tens of thousands of California school children.
• This proposition will make California’s bad healthcare problems even worse – increasing costs and wait times for patients already struggling to see a doctor or specialist.

UNNECESSARY

• Community health centers and clinics are heavily regulated by the federal and state governments, with strict reporting requirements and audits.
• They are not-for-profit organizations required to focus resources on patient care and community benefits, not profits or shareholders.
• And a majority of the board of directors must be patients of that facility, ensuring decisions reflect patient and community needs of that specific clinic.

OPPOSED BY PATIENTS, DOCTORS, NURSES, COMMUNITY LEADERS