A Rare Net-Positive: San Mateo County's $5.2B Budget Proposal ADDS 15 Health-Care-Access Positions

Against a Bay Area backdrop of San Francisco DPH cuts and Santa Clara's deficit, San Mateo County's proposed ~$5.2 billion FY2026-27 budget (released ~May 25) goes the other way: it adds 15 health-care-access positions specifically to help an estimated 59,000 Medi-Cal and 33,000 CalFresh recipients navigate the coming eligibility and redetermination churn. It is a rare net-positive county staffing signal and a template worth citing in advocacy — counties can choose to staff up eligibility/navigation support rather than cut it, directly protecting FQHC billing revenue by keeping patients enrolled. For Peninsula FQHCs (Ravenswood Family Health, North East Medical Services), more county navigators mean fewer coverage-loss-driven no-pay visits.