Monterey County leaders warn HR 1 could strip benefits from tens of thousands and strain local health, social services

County of Monterey officials warned in a special briefing that proposed federal changes in HR 1 could leave tens of thousands of local residents without food or health benefits, creating immediate workload and fiscal pressures for hospitals, clinics and social‑services offices.

Roderick Franks, director of the Monterey County Department of Social Services, said the county estimates about 50,000 people are eligible for CalFresh and that roughly 50,000 people from the Affordable Care Act expansion population are likely to be subject to new Medi‑Cal community‑engagement and work requirements. "We anticipate about 8,700 of our CalFresh recipients would be subject to the new work and community engagement requirements," Franks said, and he added that his office estimates "between 12,519 people of that group will ultimately lose their benefits for being noncompliant with the new work and community engagement requirements." Franks also reported the county currently serves roughly 175,000 Medi‑Cal recipients and issues more than $50,000,000 a month in Medi‑Cal benefits.

Why it matters: county officials said the combined administrative burden of more frequent eligibility checks, new…