South Bay Congressman Ted Lieu held telephone town hall reacts to ‘Big Ugly Bill’

Congressman Ted Lieu held a telephone town hall July 30 with three top health officials from his 36th District about what will happen now that “The Big Beautiful Bill Act” has become law. It was signed by President Trump July 4. Lieu opposed it.

The health officials on the call were Dr. Anish Mahajan, chief deputy director of L.A. County Department of Public Health; Dr. Mitesh Popat, CEO of Venice Family Clinic; and Dr. Andrea Turner, CEO of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The event took place on a House Democrats’ “Medicaid and Medicare Matters Day of Action.”

Rep. Lieu began the town hall by noting Congress was on early recess, called by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to enable an “epic cover-up of massive proportions.” The early break was to avoid a vote on the Jeffrey Epstein files, Lieu explained.

“Approximately 14,000 residents are going to lose their health insurance in California’s 36th Congressional District under this big, ugly law,” Lieu said. “Statewide, California will see a $150 billion cut in federal funding for Medi-Cal, which is what we call Medicaid in California. And over two million Californians will lose health insurance. And so, this is a very dramatic law that’s going to affect many people.”

Lieu pointed to a silver lining, though, in that, “the Republicans tried to be devious. They structured the cuts to (take effect) after the mid-term elections. That gives us the opportunity to say, well look, do you want to vote for the same Republicans who voted for those deep cuts, or do you want to change the House so that we can stop these cuts?”

The Congressman then invited Dr. Mahajan of L.A. County Department of Health to speak on the call.

Dr. Mahajan said about 50% of the county’s public health budget is dependent upon federal funds.He told of a “huge cut” to SNAP benefits – or food stamps. He cited threats to ocean water testing and tracking the potential spread of measles infections.

Dr. Popat, of Venice Family Clinic, said the operation, which includes the South Bay Family Health Clinic in Redondo Beach, serves 45,000 patients, from here to the Santa Monica Mountains.

“Hopefully the worst effects of the bill can be mitigated by further legislation in the coming years,” he said. “Or that it may be turned back. We believe healthcare is a human right, and this bill is a big gut punch to that.”

“The net effect of all of this seems to be that the federal government is waging a war on poor people and people of color,” Dr. Popat continued. “I can conclude no less, based on these myriad of actions that have been taken. And to me, as a son of immigrants, it’s unconscionable, it’s un-American, it’s not what makes this country great.”

Dr. Turner, of Harbor-UCLA said, “I do stand in the spirit of social justice… I call it the ‘Big Burdensome Bill’ and it’s really tearing our health systems apart… As a safety-net hospital, we take care of mostly the underserved.”

She added that most of these patients are working people.

“They are not leeching off of the system (as some Republicans) would have you believe,” she said. “Medicaid is not a luxury, it’s not something we took for granted, but truly the American way, to take care of each other, and the responsibility to do so.”

She said California’s Department of Healthcare Services and Harbor UCLA “are looking at innovative ways to care for our patients, so they do not suffer, but that can be exceptionally difficult.”

“This Big, Beautiful Bill sets us back pre-dating the ACA (Affordable Care Act, 2010), and that we cannot stand for,” she said.

“We are here to do the work and be accountable, and we need to hold Congress equally accountable.”

A town hall question-and-answer followed.

Jennifer in Harbor City, Jane in Santa Monica, and Karen in Redondo Beach were a sampling of those who called in questions. As part of Rep Lieu’s answers, he said he thought the “‘No Kings’ protests were amazing. Public pressure does make a difference.”

He quoted Abraham Lincoln; “Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.”

He encouraged constituents to write letters to the editor, and to put up social media posts.

Joanne in Marina Del Rey asked Lieu about the possibility of a federal bill to require ICE – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – agents to keep their faces uncovered, from masks or otherwise.

Lieu said he supported making this federal law, and that California is working on a state-specific law on the same matter.

In addition, he talked about “unconstitutional actions” in federal immigration raids.

“Race and ethnicity cannot be the basis for probable cause and reasonable suspicion,” he said, explaining that probable cause is the basis required to make an arrest in the United States, and reasonable suspicion has to be present to detain someone.

Dennis from Torrance, a member of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (Post Office), asked Lieu about potential cuts to federal workers’ benefits.

The congressman answered that he is not on the Congressional appropriations committee, and said staff will get back to him.

Then he made a side note about the Post Office.

“It would be insane to privatize the Postal Service, unless you want to pay $20 to mail a first class letter.”

To another question, Lieu said, “These cuts are going to have a devastating effect on not just patients, but healthcare providers.”

Final thoughts followed from the three healthcare guests.

Dr. Turner said, “We cannot be complacent. … This is something we cannot allow to take hold. It is going to ruin our health system.”

In an August 1 press release about the phone town hall, Lieu’s office stated, “The Republican-passed Big Ugly Bill will have devastating consequences for Southern California. Health insurance premiums will increase, especially for those on the Affordable Care Act, and Southern California hospitals will face millions in increased costs.”

In March, Lieu held an in-person roundtable in Redondo Beach at Beach Cities Health District, where various non-profit healthcare representatives gathered to list specific effects of the then-developing “Big Beautiful Bill,” and its calls for $880 billion in cuts. ER