With deep federal cuts now beginning to take shape, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today voted to create a proactive notification system to alert residents when essential and life-saving services are at risk, helping families avoid being blindsided by benefit disruptions.

“These cuts are real and the fallout is coming fast — people have a right to know when their healthcare, groceries, or housing are on the line,” said San Diego County Chair Terra Lawson-Remer. “We can’t control what Washington does, but we can make sure San Diego families get fair warning and the chance to prepare.”

The newly approved notification system builds on earlier action by the Board, including a June 26 directive from Chair Lawson-Remer and Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe which directed County staff to begin urgent operational and fiscal planning in response to the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (H.R. 1).

Today, alongside the vote to create a proactive notification system, County staff returned to present their first report, outlining projected staffing needs and major impacts to food assistance, Medi-Cal, and essential services.

According to the County’s staff analysis, H.R. 1 would:

• Slash over $200 million annually from food assistance, impacting more than 400,000 San Diegans, including 130,000 children and nearly 100,000 seniors.
• Force the County to hire up to 727 additional full-time employees — at a cost of $63 million per year — just to maintain current processing times under new onerous Medi-Cal application requirements.
• Require up to 426 additional full-time County employees — costing nearly $28 million annually — to manage increased CalFresh application burdens and avoid processing backlogs.
• Impose new work requirements on over 327,000 Medi-Cal recipients, including removing exemptions for veterans and homeless individuals, threatening access to care for some of San Diego’s most vulnerable residents.
• Reduce retroactive Medicaid and CHIP coverage to just one month, increasing medical debt for families and raising County costs for newly enrolled Medi-Cal recipients.
• Increase the number of uninsured San Diegans, driving up uncompensated care costs for local hospitals and safety-net providers.
• Lead to more frequent emergency room visits and psychiatric hospitalizations, as loss of preventative care forces more people into crisis.
• Cause job losses in the healthcare industry, as reduced federal funding and higher administrative costs strain providers.
• Drive up unemployment across impacted sectors, compounding local economic instability.
• Increase the risk of homelessness, as cuts to healthcare, food, and income supports leave more families vulnerable to housing loss.

The newly approved notification system will use texts, calls, emails, and local outreach partners to ensure impacted families are informed, connected to help, and are better prepared when federal benefit disruptions hit.

“If your lights are about to get shut off, you get a notice. Families deserve the same respect when it’s their food, home, or healthcare on the chopping block,” Lawson-Remer said.

The notification system builds on Lawson-Remer’s push for a broader “federal fallout readiness plan,” which includes:

• Staffing up Medi-Cal and CalFresh processing to avoid backlogs.
• Investing in housing stability and behavioral health services.
• Reforming the County’s outdated reserves policy; and
• Exploring local funding solutions to protect core services.

“Families are already stretched by rising costs, and these federal cuts make it worse,” said Lawson-Remer. “This Board must do everything possible to protect San Diego families from higher costs, longer waits, and greater instability.”

The County’s Chief Administrative Officer will report back later this year with an implementation timeline, ensuring notifications are ready to launch as soon as new federal cuts and regulations are finalized.