Washington, D.C. – Wednesday, April 1, kicks off the ninth annual Medicaid Awareness Month, as Donald Trump and Republicans face mounting backlash for the largest cuts to health care in history and the growing crisis those cuts have unleashed in communities across the country.
Medicaid is popular across the country, with strong support from Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike, and poll after poll shows voters overwhelmingly oppose cuts and wouldn’t support a lawmaker who voted to cut Medicaid. But instead of listening to their constituents, Republicans slashed $1 trillion to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations – putting seniors in nursing homes, moms, families and disabled children dead last.
Now, across the country, a full-blown health care crisis is unfolding: more than 10 million Americans are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage, nearly 800 hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other critical providers are closing, cutting essential services or at risk of closing, and too many families are being forced to choose between prescriptions, medical care, and other necessities. From rural towns to big cities, no community is immune from the fallout of Republicans’ reckless and deeply unpopular cuts.
To mark the start of Medicaid Awareness Month, Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:
“Republicans didn’t just turn their backs on the American people — they sold them out and now they’re scrambling to cover it up. They knew voters across party lines opposed ripping health care away from millions and they did it anyway, all to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. People are losing care, nursing homes and hospitals will be closing their doors, and communities are being pushed to the brink. Every single lawmaker who voted for these cuts owns this crisis and will have to answer for it. Families across the country are now in this disastrous position because of Republicans’ reckless, deeply unpopular cuts and voters won’t forget who caused it.”
Throughout Medicaid Awareness Month, Protect Our Care will take this fight directly to the American people, exposing the truth Republicans are trying to hide and holding them accountable for the damage they’ve done. This month will include:
- National events targeting Republicans who voted for these cuts and are now dodging accountability
- In-state events in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin, including hospital tours in communities and at facilities where closures and service cuts have already happened
- Storytelling campaigns elevating the voices of working families being pushed off care in press events, creator bookings and digital ads
- New reports and state-by-state fact sheets
The month will also include the following theme weeks:
- April 1 – 10: Hospitals in Crisis as Trump’s Billionaire Friends Get Richer
- April 13 – 17: Women, Moms, and People of Color Thrown Under the Bus by Trump, GOP
- April 20 – 24: People with Disabilities in the Crosshairs of Trump, GOP Medicaid Cuts
- April 27 – May 1: Seniors Pushed to the Brink so Trump’s Cronies Can Cash In
Background
Medicaid is one of the largest and most important health programs in the United States, providing health care to 70 million Americans. It provides coverage for children, seniors, people with disabilities, moms, rural families, and working households. It funds mental health care, substance use treatment, long-term care, and hospitals in every community, especially in rural areas dependent on Medicaid to survive.
By the Numbers
Republican attacks on Medicaid:
- Cut $1 trillion from Medicaid to pay for handouts to the wealthiest Americans.
- Rips health care away from 10 million Americans on Medicaid, including seniors, children, veterans, and people with disabilities, to pay for tax breaks for billionaires like Elon Musk and large corporations.
- Threaten to shutter over 330 hospitals, 570 nursing homes, and hundreds of clinics across the country that rely on Medicaid funding to keep their doors open, forcing more Americans to travel further for maternity care and emergency rooms, face longer wait times or skip care entirely.
- Generates billions in tax breaks for the rich by choking seniors and working families in red tape and making it harder to enroll in Medicare and Medicaid
- Forces low-income seniors to pay thousands more each year for health care by raising their premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
- Imposes a sick tax on over 20 million people on Medicaid, hitting them with new bills each time they see a doctor for cancer, diabetes, or other illnesses.
