Advocates support increasing a half-cent tax in LA County to continue funding healthcare

A panel of experts spoke about the importance of protecting healthcare funding in L.A. County and the temporary solution to make this happen. On June 2nd, Los Angeles County voters will have the opportunity to vote on Measure ER, which proposes a half-cent tax to generate revenue for community clinics, emergency rooms and public health services. This measure will benefit hundreds of thousands of people. 

Since the H.R.1, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” was passed in 2025, 200,000 L.A. County residents have been disenrolled from full-scope Medi-Cal coverage and one out of five people who lost coverage is a child, according to the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS). 

Additionally, seven of L.A. County’s public health clinics have closed due to grants from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention being cut.

L.A. County Supervisor of the Second District, Holly Mitchell, said during the panel on Wednesday that H.R. 1 is expected to reduce funding by $750 million per year that would have gone to the County Department of Health Care Services. The severe cut is very likely to cause the closure of one of the county hospitals. 

This is a very serious issue for health care workers like Dr. Christopher Libby. He said that as an emergency physician, he knows how to manage at the front lines and address his patient’s concerns, including heart attacks, strokes,  fever, mental health issues and prescription refills. 

 “But what I also see every day is what happens when people don't have access to that primary care and that preventative care,” he said. “Patients get sicker from conditions that could be treated. Patients may end up not getting access to care due to delays and unable to get in with doctors because they don't have insurance anymore.”

He said some of those conditions, if treated on time, could prevent hospitalization. So now it is not just about cost, but also about more suffering for the affected patients.

If approved, Measure ER is expected to increase the county’s sales tax to the half-cent tax, except for groceries, prescribed drugs and medical equipment. It would generate approximately $1 billion per year and is set to expire in October 2031. 

A measure to prevent more chaos

Healthcare advocate Crystal Marquez has experienced the importance of having healthcare benefits through MediCal. She said a few years ago she suffered a mental health illness that led her to homelessness. She ended up at the hospital, where she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. 

She started looking for healthcare access and was able to get partnered with a local provider. She was then immediately connected with services, assured that the team went above and beyond to help her. 

“So as a result of all that, I am now employed with one of the biggest homeless service agencies in Los Angeles County,” she said. 

However, now she gets to see the people affected and highlights that the issue affects everyone, not just low-income MediCal recipients. 

“We need to have that health care consistency to help people get better and get back on their feet and stay on their feet,” she said.

Dr. Libby emphasized that while emergency departments are a safety net, they are not a primary care provider and outpatient settings are much needed. 

“We try our best, but we need help from our outpatient colleagues. We need help from our county and our communities to make sure that we continue to fund those services at those county health clinics and county hospitals and primary care clinics,” he said.

The panelists agree that while Measure ER is not the complete solution to the health care system issue, it is an opportunity to prevent it from getting worse.