119SEIU members from hospitals, nursing homes, homecare, and community-based settings boarded buses, trains and planes earlier today heading to Washington D.C. to call on Congress to protect Medicaid in the face of proposals to slash federal funding by as much as 30%. The caregivers are joining healthcare and other service workers, faith leaders and community supporters from around the country who will be descending on the nation’s capital to defend the largest health insurance program in the United States. 

“The healthcare for over 70 million Americans is under grave risk as Republicans seek to cut over $2 trillion dollars from Medicaid to fund tax cuts for the rich—it is hard to imagine a more appalling exchange. The caregivers of 1199SEIU know that the very lives of our patients are at stake, which is why we are heading to our nation’s capital to demand that our elected leaders, regardless of party, wholly reject cuts to Medicaid. Medicaid is essential to protecting public health and reducing healthcare inequities, and we must fight tooth and nail to defend this critical program that millions of families rely on,” said 1199SEIU President George Gresham.

“Cuts to Medicaid would harm my community and my residents,” said Sandra Diaz, a certified nursing assistant at St. Cabrini Nursing Home in Dobbs Ferry, NY, who is travelling to the capital with her son. “Nursing home residents, most of whom rely on Medicaid and Medicare, shouldn’t have to worry about where they will go and how they will get the care they need–they deserve better. That’s why we’re heading to D.C. to urge Congressman Lawler to stand up to his party and not cut Medicaid!”

“I’ve worked at my nursing home for 30 years. I’m going to DC to talk to my representatives about making sure that Medicaid is funded, so that we have enough staff, supplies, and resources to give quality care,” said Deborah Chatman, a recreation aide at Orange Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in East Orange, NJ. “My residents are like my second family. As a recreation aide, my job is to keep our residents’ minds and bodies active. We do bingo, arts and crafts, coffee hour, and other activities that are so important for their physical and mental wellbeing. Most of my residents rely on Medicaid, and we can’t allow their healthcare to be cut!”

The healthcare workers decided they needed to speak to lawmakers face to face when they learned of the Republican leadership’s radical plans to give trillions in tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans by slashing up to $2.3 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years.  In an effort to hand tax cuts to billionaires and corporations, they are planning to take healthcare away from working families, dramatically reduce funding for the most vulnerable, including children and seniors, and scapegoat their patients who rely on Medicaid.

“I heard the news about the Republican plan to wreck Medicaid to pay for billionaire tax cuts, and I knew I had to do something to protect my client’s healthcare coverage,” said Brandon Douglas, a psychiatric counselor at South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, NY.  “We are already facing a mental health crisis on Long Island and I’m not sure where folks will turn if they lose Medicaid which covers medication and treatment that allows them to live with some stability. I’m going to the capital today to urge Congressman Garbarino to stand with constituents like me to protect Medicaid for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.”

Medicaid provides healthcare to nearly 80 million people–including close to 40% of children in the United States. Seven million New Yorkers, including nearly half of the state’s children, half of all people with disabilities, and the majority of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid. In addition, 46% of all pregnant women in New York have their births covered by Medicaid.

“I want my representative, Congressman LaLota, to understand how important Medicaid is for my patients, my neighbors and my own family. Many of my patients in the emergency department rely on Medicaid, but this is also personal for me. Because of Medicaid, my grandmother was able to spend the last years of her life in our home, instead of an institution, living with dignity surrounded by her family including her two great grandsons,” said Vlady Delossantos, who has worked at South Shore University Hospital on Long Island in the emergency department for 18 years. “And I was one of the many women in New York who depended on Medicaid to deliver a healthy baby–and now that baby, my oldest son, is now 21 and proudly serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. I hope that Congressman LaLota listens to us and does not take away healthcare from grandparents, babies and so many others to give tax cuts to the richest Americans.”

"I'm going to DC to protect Medicaid for my hospital and my community. My job as a registered nurse is to bring new newborns into the world. Whether you are a newborn or an elderly person, everyone deserves equal access to affordable healthcare–that’s not a financial burden. Cuts to Medicaid would further devastate our already struggling healthcare system in the WNY region,” said Natasha Sanborn, a registered nurse at Kaleida Health’s Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, NY.  

Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal government and the states, and it is supported by 77 percent of Americans. Deep Medicaid cuts would have a devastating impact on state budgets, forcing state leaders to make impossible choices regarding cuts to vital services.