Loretta Medellin didn’t think much of the small blister that formed on her foot as she danced the night away at her daughter’s wedding. The high-school Spanish teacher and mom of two assumed it would heal in a few days.
[1]But it didn’t. That small blister would turn things upside down for Medellin, who soon couldn’t walk. She took medical leave from her job, then lost her job and then, unable to keep up with mortgage payments, lost her home.
Medellin eventually got on Medi-Cal, California’s public health insurance funded by Medicaid. Determined to avoid amputation, she found care in Alameda and started going to weekly appointments at the Creedon Advanced Wound Care Center.
The Creedon center, on Atlantic Avenue, is a state-of-the-art facility that helps patients who suffer from persistent wounds. Those wounds can come from a variety of sources, including diseases such as diabetes and sickle cell anemia, or from something as innocuous as a blister.
Creedon Advanced Wound Care is part of Alameda Health System [3] (AHS), Alameda County’s safety-net health system, which is primarily funded by Medicaid. But Medicaid is now facing multiple funding threats from both federal and state lawmakers.
Last week, President Trump signed the domestic policy bill that will cut about $1 trillion from Medicaid. Twelve million people are likely to lose their health care coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office [4], a nonpartisan office that examines the impacts of proposed legislation.
Those cuts will impact us here in Alameda. About 11% of Alamedans—around 8,400 people who live here in Alameda—rely on Medi-Cal to receive care, according to DataUSA [5].
Safety-net hospitals like Alameda Hospital will be squeezed. People like Medellin will have a harder time accessing care, and may not get treated at all.
People get sick and injured whether or not they can rely on Medicaid. Without sufficient health coverage, we know that many people forgo or delay relatively inexpensive medical treatment until minor health problems become serious and costly emergencies. This leads to higher health care costs for everyone, including those with private insurance.
For Medellin, the treatment she received because of Medicaid was life-changing. Her foot healed, she avoided amputation, and she can now walk again. She credits Creedon Advanced Wound Care for saving her leg.
“Medicaid is not just a safety net, it’s a path back to dignity, recovery, and stability,” Medellin said. “Medicaid made it possible for me to get the care I needed. Without it, I don’t believe I’d still have my leg—or my life.”
Healthy Alameda is a healthcare column provided by Alameda Health System (AHS), the public safety-net health system that serves all in Alameda County. AHS operates five facilities in the City of Alameda, including Alameda Hospital, Creedon Advanced Wound Care Center, Park Bridge Rehabilitation and Wellness, South Shore Rehabilitation and Wellness, and Marina Wellness and Surgical Associates.