Guest Commentary | Proposition 35 is crucial for local and state’s health care future

As a practicing physician in Santa Cruz for more than 22 years, I know first hand how important it is for patients to have timely access to care.

The sad reality is, too many doctors and hospitals are unable to treat the almost 15 million patients covered by Medi-Cal because the state has consistently redirected funding away from health care. This is an urgent challenge facing our state’s health care system, heightened as we emerge from the pandemic. That’s why I’m voting Yes on Proposition 35.

Voting yes on Prop. 35 will provide dedicated resources to improve access to care at community health clinics, primary care, family planning, mental health services, emergency rooms and hospitals, and specialty care providers like heart and cancer specialists, surgeons, and OB/GYNs.

Improving access to community-based office settings to meet primary care needs moves patients out of the emergency rooms, where too many turn to for care. This, in turn, will improve public health and save costs, as we will be better equipped to prevent and manage chronic diseases, decrease costly emergency interventions, and improve our turnaround time on diagnoses.

The stakes have never been higher. More than one third of Californians rely on Medi-Cal for health coverage, including half of our children. These are often low-income families, seniors, and those living with disabilities. Many of my patients, essential agricultural workers, are reliant on Medi-Cal.

In Santa Cruz, 31 percent of the residents depend on Medi-Cal, more than double the 14 percent in 2012. While it’s encouraging to see eligibility for Medi-Cal has continue to grow, the chronic underfunding of the program has resulted in significant gaps in accessing care.

Since 2012, more than 40 hospitals have stopped offering labor and delivery services across California. Emergency rooms are bursting at the seams, and specialist wait times have become maddeningly long in urban, suburban, and rural communities across Santa Cruz County.

This isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s a matter of life and death with ripples across the entire health care system. When expectant mothers can’t access prenatal care, when cancer patients wait months for treatment, and when mental health crises go unaddressed, we all pay the price.

Prop. 35 simply guarantees money from an existing levy on health insurance companies goes to health care. It prevents the state from redirecting the funds and requires 99% of the money go to patient care.

Our health care system is at a breaking point and the underfunding of Medi-Cal has gone on for too long; it’s now essential for the public to act.

Voting Yes on Prop. 35 will help California finally deliver on its promise of timely, affordable, and quality care for everyone.

It’s a chance to prove that we don’t just talk about equity and accessible health care for all — we lead the way and make it happen.

Based in Santa Cruz, Dr. Donaldo M. Hernandez practices internal medicine and is Immediate Past President of the California Medical Association and Santa Cruz County Medical Association.