LA health clinics rally for funding with Democratic congresswomen

Kitty Felde/KPCC

File photo: Congresswoman Judy Chu

Representatives from Los Angeles health care clinics gathered in downtown L.A. Tuesday afternoon to urge Congress to spare funding for low-cost health centers that serve the needy.

Democratic congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard and Judy Chu accepted signatures from thousands of Los Angeles-area health clinic patients urging congressional leaders to protect funding for L.A.'s community health clinics. The congressional debt reduction committee is considering cuts of up to $600 billion to Medicare and Medicaid, which fund clinic services.

"That would be totally counterproductive," Rep. Roybal-Allard said, "because the fact is that people who come to community clinics don’t have to go to emergency room hospitals for their care. Which is, and everybody knows it, the most costly type of health care that anyone can possibly have."

One million Los Angeles residents, a majority of whom are uninsured. are served by 140 community health clinics throughout L.A. County.