Alarmed at the threat of a big tear in their health care safety nets, leaders of Bay Area counties and public hospitals are opposing Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to take an estimated $2.5 billion from county health programs over the next three years.

Brown argues that the counties will no longer need this money for indigent care because several million Californians will become newly insured as major provisions of the national health reform law take effect beginning Jan. 1.

But county health leaders from around the Bay Area said Tuesday they expect thousands of their residents to remain uninsured -- and in need of government-funded health care. The debate is another indication of the most powerful dynamic affecting

Gov. Jerry Brown speaks in Mountain View on May 23, 2013. (LiPo Ching/Staff file)

Brown wants to use the money to help pay for other programs the state is shifting to the counties.

But county health leaders urged the governor not to shift the money until everyone has a clearer idea of how the national health care reforms will affect Californians.

"We're not greedy in San Mateo -- if there are savings, we're happy to share them with the state," said Jean Fraser, chief of the San Mateo County Health System. "But the governor is assuming everybody (who is eligible) will be enrolled and it will be a perfect world. Whether there are any savings is completely uncertain."

She estimated

Other Bay Area counties stand to lose much more. The impact in Contra Costa County would be about $7 million this year and rise to $25 million in 2015-16.

Santa Clara County would lose about $60 million annually and expects 100,000 to 150,000 residents will remain uninsured, said Rene Santiago, director of the Santa Clara Health and Hospital System.

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Health care safety net: County leaders protest governor's proposal to remove $300 million statewide this year