The shutdown ended this week after a small group of Democrats made a deal with Republican senators who promised a vote by mid-December on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies. But there is no guaranteed outcome, and many Republicans have made clear they want the credits to expire.
On Thursday, dozens of people waited in line for food items at the Kheir Clinic in Los Angeles, a federally funded health center that provides free and low-cost healthcare to underserved and uninsured communities.
There's now a growing concern for families who rely on food and health assistance.
"Not surprisingly folks showed up quite early and just kept coming," said California Senator Adam Schiff, who visited the clinic on Thursday to hand out food and tour the facility. He fears health care costs will go up.
"The biggest part of that massive cut to health care will come from a trillion dollars taken out of Medicaid," he said. "That has not gone fully into effect, but we're already seeing the repercussions."
Meantime, people at Thursday's event said they're concerned about what could happen over the next few weeks - or months - especially as we approach the holidays.
"We've seen a lot people call us, text us, come in person, just with a lot of uncertainty," said James An with the Kheir Clinic. "We don't know what's going to happen with our benefits. Are we going to get our November payment? Luckily, that came through, and we'll see what's going to happen."
The Kheir Clinic treats about 15,000 patients a year, many of them children and seniors, providing everything from wellness checks to preventative care.
"Kids are coming in for their well visits, seniors are coming in for their annual wellness visits so that we can see what they're having to deal with at home," said Dr. Ida Tuwatananurak.
Community health leaders said the combination of health care cuts and the loss of food assistance could overwhelm clinics already struggling to meet demand.
Louise McCarthy with the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles said people will still come to these clinics, but they'll come uninsured.
"The clinics are going to struggle to serve them," she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.