Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., leaves the stage after speaking at a campaign event in Bakersfield, Calif. on Sept. 30, 2026. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption

Jae C. Hong/AP

Ulises Hernandez, of Bakersfield, Calif., has had health coverage through Medicaid for as long as he can remember.

But he had never waited as long for care as he did in September after a dental crown slipped down his throat during a procedure. He spent eight hours in an emergency room waiting for care and more than two days without food.

Sitting in his wheelchair to protest looming federal Medicaid cuts outside Republican U.S. Rep. David Valadao's Bakersfield office, Hernandez described his wait as a foreshadowing of what's ahead.

"I couldn't eat, I couldn't drink, I couldn't do anything, and I was in pain," said Hernandez, who had been discharged from the hospital a few days before. "I'm livid."

Hernandez, 41, said Valadao "should be ashamed of himself" for voting for the Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act.…