☆ Cupertino Vice Mayor: did Santa Clara County justify a tax hike with misleading healthcare math?
SCC Supes warned the H.R. 1 spending slowdown would cost $1B yearly, but Cupertino Vice Mayor Liangfang Chao says that’s exaggerated by multiples. She argues the real shortfall comes from overspending in the county hospitals that predates H.R. 1 by years. It can’t be patched up by the new Measure A sales tax. Yet now, after the ballot measure’s victory, will the county keep taxing its way out of mismanagement?
The County claims that they expect to lose $1 billion per year in Medicaid funding due to H.R. 1 to justify rushing to put Measure A in 2025 Special Election. Are they exaggerating it to cover their projected losses of $600M (FY 2024-25) growing to $1B (by 2030) due to spending outpacing revenue?
As of June 2025, about 70,506,786 people were enrolled in Medicaid alone in the states reporting data. 7.8M / 70.5M = 11% => 11% people might lose coverage in 10 years, according to CBO.
Santa Clara County [will] receive $2.3B in Medicaid funding in FY 25-26. 11% of $2.3B = $253M. Thus, the loss would be at most $253M, with CBO analysis. County claims to expect $1B loss in federal Medicaid funding per year.
The Santa Clara County hospital system has a deficit of $600 million in FY 2024-25, is projected to lose $1 billion next year, and $1.4-$3 billion by 2030, even without H.R. 1.
[Measure A] will raise $330M per year for 5 years.
The county’s spending in healthcare has more than doubled, soaring from $2.2 billion in 2015 to over $6.1 billion in 2025. This now accounts for 55% of the county’s entire budget.
Santa Clara County spends 55% of expenditure on healthcare (and growing), while other counties spend only 25% on healthcare.
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