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Board directs staff to develop Safety Net Bridge pilot to help people who may lose Medi‑Cal
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Summary
After a staff feasibility analysis that identified communities and six scalable clinic/food options, the board authorized development of an implementation plan and pilot for a Safety Net Bridge program and added a 45‑day deadline for a food‑access cost estimate.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on March 25 directed staff to develop an implementation plan and pilot for a Safety Net Bridge program designed to provide short‑term primary care, medication access and food support for people who may lose Medi‑Cal coverage under upcoming federal changes.
Jamie Beam, director of county medical care services, told the board staff analyzed enrollment and vulnerability data and identified roughly 314,000 people in the county who will be subject to Medi‑Cal work requirements; estimates project that as many as 100,000 could temporarily or permanently lose access to coverage. To mitigate those harms, staff presented six options for transitional access clinics — ranging from telehealth and strengthened free‑clinic networks, to mobile units, expanded community health fairs, permanent county clinics and contracts with community health centers. Each option is intended to be scalable and tailored to local needs.
Eden Breckman, the county’s chief sustainability officer, described a menu of food‑access strategies to pair with clinic options: adding cold storage at county facilities, expanding nonperishable storage, leasing refrigerated trucks, and expanding mobile distribution events. The board’s staff recommendation asked the board to receive the feasibility analysis and authorize an implementation‑plan and pilot development, returning within 180 days for final authorization and requested funding.
Multiple community health centers and provider groups urged partnership models rather than duplicative county clinics, recommending options that build on existing clinic capacity and prioritize eligibility and reenrollment work. Feeding San Diego and other food‑security groups urged rapid food distribution planning.
A supervisor added a requirement that the chief administrative officer and Office of Sustainability report back within 45 days on implementation plans and cost estimates specifically for the program’s food‑access component; the full motion (pilot development with the 45‑day food report requirement) passed unanimously.
What happens next: staff will prepare an implementation plan and pilot design for board review (return within 180 days) and report within 45 days on food‑access implementation options and costs, with an emphasis on partnering with community health centers and targeting areas identified via the county’s social‑vulnerability analysis.
