Washington Debt Debate Could Affect Loma Linda's Elderly and Unemployed

While the debate on the debt limit continues in Washington, those in Loma Linda who are dependent on unemployment and social security payments are being left on pins and needles.

If President Barack Obama and the congress cannot come to an agreement on the debt ceiling, thousands of checks meant for city residents could be delayed, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

In Loma Linda, there are roughly 800 unemployed residents on the Employment Development Department scrolls. There are another 3,900 people who can be considered seniors, aged 62 and over, according to the 2010 US Census.

According to a report by policy center officials, the federal government will be unable to meet all of its spending obligations sometime in early August unless the debt ceiling is raised.

The report estimated that at some point in August, federal spending would be reduced by as much as 44 percent as the Treasury prioritizes payments to remain under the debt limit.

Center officials illustrates the problem this way: “(The) treasury could exhaust all inflows for the month of August by paying only six major items: interest on our existing debt, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, unemployment insurance and defense contracts. Without cutting from these items, there would be no money to fund entire U.S. departments, such as Justice, Labor and Commerce. There would also not be funds to pay for veterans’ benefits, IRS refunds, military active duty pay, federal salaries and benefits, special education programs, Pell Grants for college students or food and rent payments for the poor.”

“The choices would not be pretty,” said BPC Visiting Scholar Jay Powell, a former Under Secretary of the Treasury for Finance under President George H. W. Bush.

This is just the latest wrinkle. San Bernardino County is faced with a 13.2 percent unemployment rate. California has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation at 11.8 percent, just below Nevada's 12.4 percent.

Loma Linda has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, according to June statistics. The city has an 8 percent unemployment rate, a fraction of its estimated 9,800-member workforce, according to the June statistics from the state's Employment Development Department.

Grand Terrace, the neighbors to the west with a similar sized workforce (about 7,000) have a 6.9 percent unemployment rate. The town of Bloomington, near Rialto, with a workforce of 8,100 has a 17.5 percent unemployment rate.

According to census numbers, most of the city’s residents work in the medical field. Loma Linda University Medical Center and Loma Linda University are the major employers. The medical field is often seen a recession proof.

But even this town, peppered with people in lab coats, has felt the touch of recession and unemployment, albeit in a comparatively minor way.

“We are more closely watching out labor costs,” said Steven Mohr, chief financial officer of the Loma Linda University Health System.

They have cut some of its workforce through attrition, and put the creation of some positions on hold until the economy strengthens, Mohr said. Loma Linda did see a drop in the number of people coming in for procedures drop in 2009-10.

“A lot of people were putting off elective procedures,” he said. “If they needed a hip replacement, a lot of time they were putting that off. They were probably saying, ‘I don’t want to take time off of work. I’m not sure about my work status. I’m not sure about my insurance.' You know that type of thing.”

Things are improving slowly, he said.

“We are just closely watching our labor costs,” he said.