News Archives — Protect Our Care

IN THE STATES: Over Recess, Democratic Lawmakers, Advocates Join Events Across the Nation to Tell Republicans “Hands Off Medicaid”

The events were headlined by Senators Tammy Baldwin, Ruben Gallego, and Peter Welch; Representatives Gwen Moore, Mark Pocan, Bobby Scott, George Latimer, Robert Garcia, Lateefah Simon, Paul Tonko, and Betty McCollum; former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords; and more.

During the Congressional recess, members of Congress, local elected officials, and advocates joined Protect Our Care for 29 events in 13 states, calling on Republicans to reject any cuts to Medicaid in their upcoming budget.

Right now, House Energy and Commerce Committee members are tasked with finding $880 billion in cuts, and according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, to achieve the GOP’s budget goals, they must cut billions from Medicaid, putting health care for more than 70 million Americans in jeopardy.

Protect Our Care is continuing its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign to underscore the importance of Medicaid across the country. Alongside partners, lawmakers, and other advocates, Protect Our Care is working to defend Medicaid from the Republican-led plan to slash funding to pay for another round of tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. Read more about our latest ad campaigns here.

ALASKA

Monday, April 21 – SEIU “Medicaid Monday” Event with SEIU Caregivers, Clients and Community Members outside Nick Begich’s Anchorage Office: SEIU Caregivers, clients, and community members allied outside Representative Nick Begich’s Anchorage office today to deliver a powerful message: their work is essential, and it’s time lawmakers treated it that way. The rally was organized in response to proposed Medicaid cuts that would harm Alaskans who rely on home- and community-based care. Participants shared their stories and called on lawmakers to protect the services that allow seniors and people with disabilities to live with dignity and independence. “We’re here to fight for our families, our jobs, and our clients,” said Sasha Johnson, a caregiver and frontline advocate. “We are NOT waste—our work isn’t wasteful, our clients aren’t waste, and our experience isn’t a waste. Matter of fact, we SAVE the government so much money, and that’s what we came to say.” You can read the post-event release here.

Alaska Public Media: ‘We’re not waste,’ Medicaid-supported workers tell Alaska congressman
Your Alaska Link: Anchorage rally urges lawmakers to protect Medicaid funding in Alaska

Friday, April 11 – Medicaid Awareness Month/SEIU Caregiver Event with SEIU 775 Members Shirley Johnson and Shanah Kinison: Caregivers and SEIU 775 members Shirley Johnson and Shanah Kinison joined Protect Our Care Alaska to discuss their recent trip to DC to speak with Senator Dan Sullivan about the importance of Medicaid to Alaska seniors and people with disabilities, and to deliver the clear message: “don’t cut Medicaid.” Both Johnson and Kinison pushed back on the senator’s repeated references to “fraud, waste, and abuse” in Medicaid, urging him to focus instead on the lives that would be upended by cuts to care. “I asked him directly, ‘Am I fraud? Am I waste?’” said Shanah Kinison, a Haines Caregiver, who cares for a medically fragile teen living in the Tlingit village of Klukwan. “Medicaid pays for my job. Medicaid pays for my health care. I don’t feel like a waste.” You can watch the full event here, and read the post-event release here.

Anchorage Daily News: Opinion: Trump’s Threat to the Alaska Economy.

“Cuts of that magnitude would almost certainly shut down rural hospitals across Alaska, eliminate health coverage for tens of thousands of Alaskans, sharply increase maternal and infant mortality, and cut off funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment.”

ARIZONA

Monday, April 21 – Medicaid Panel Event in Tucson with Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, State Senator Priya Sundareshan, Reproductive Freedom for All and Advocates: Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, State Senator Priya Sundareshan, Reproductive Freedom for All, and emergency physician Dr. Larry DeLuca gathered for a panel highlighting Medicaid’s crucial role in Arizona’s health care system and what’s at stake for Arizonans if funds are cut. “When we talk about Medicaid, we need to stop saying they, and we need to start saying we,” said Dr. Larry DeLuca. “You don’t plan to be in a car accident. No one puts themselves in front of a loaded gun. People can unexpectedly have their lives radically changed, and not just in the short term […] People are not going to get less sick because we took away their healthcare; just the opposite.” You can read the post-event release here.

KGUN 9: Giffords joins reproductive health group in Tucson forum opposing Medicaid cuts

Tuesday, April 22 – Medicaid Town Hall with Senator Ruben Gallego and Reproductive Freedom for All: US Senator Ruben Gallego and Reproductive Freedom for All hosted a town hall in Phoenix alongside Protect Our Care Arizona in Phoenix to highlight the devastating consequences of Republican-led efforts to cut Medicaid, known as AHCCCS in Arizona, and the impacts it will have on essential reproductive healthcare for millions of Arizonans. “Women in Arizona deserve to have control over their own bodies,” said Senator Gallego. “But Republicans in Congress want to strip access to reproductive care from poor women in order to give tax cuts to the rich. I’m doing these town halls across the state to hear from people who will be impacted from these cuts and to make clear that Arizonans won’t stand for it.” You can read the post-event release here.

KJZZ: Sen. Ruben Gallego says proposed Medicaid cuts will leave families uninsured
Cronkite News (AZ PBS): Medicaid Cuts- Medicaid Awareness Month (segment begins at 18:40)

CALIFORNIA

Friday, April 25 – Medicaid Awareness Month Event with Congresswoman Lateefah Simon and Health Care Advocates: Lateefah Simon and Medi-Cal advocates joined Protect Our Care CA to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. During the event, speakers discussed what’s at stake for this vital program and for the 15 million Californians who rely on Medicaid for health care, including millions of Californians with disabilities. View the pre-event advisory here.

Thursday, April 24– SEIU Disability Week of Action Medicaid Rally in David Valadao’s District: California health care advocates came together in Bakersfield to call on Rep. Young Kim (CA-22) to protect Medicaid for Californians with disabilities. Advocates discussed the need to protect Medicaid funding and called on the congressman to reject cuts to the program’s budget that could rip care away from disabled Californians. You can watch footage from the rally here.

ABC23: Rally against potential cuts to Medicaid draws community support in Bakersfield
ABC23: Community rallies in Bakersfield to oppose Medicaid cuts
KBAK: Dolores Huerta, protesters from around California rally against potential healthcare cuts

Tuesday, April 22– SEIU Disability Week of Action Medicaid Rally in Young Kim’s District: California health care advocates came together in Anaheim to call on Rep. Young Kim (CA-40) to protect Medicaid for Californians with disabilities. Advocates discussed the need to protect Medicaid funding and called on the congresswoman to reject cuts to the program’s budget that could rip care away from disabled Californians. You can watch footage from the event here.

ABC 7: Protesters rally outside SoCal congresswoman’s office over potential Medicaid cuts
NBC Los Angeles: Rally against proposed cuts to Medicaid
Fox 11: Rally to protect Medicaid in Anaheim
KTLA 5: Rally to protect Medicaid in Anaheim
Telemundo 52: Rally to protect Medicaid in Anaheim
LA Live: Rally to protect Medicaid in Anaheim
Fullerton Observer: Protest Rally at Congressmember Young Kim’s Office to Oppose Medicaid Cuts
KABC-LA

Monday, April 21 – SEIU Disability Week of Action Medicaid Rally in Ken Calvert’s District: California health care advocates came together in Palm Desert to call on Rep. Ken Calvert (CA-41) to protect Medicaid for Californians with disabilities. Advocates discussed the need to protect Medicaid funding and called on the congressman to reject cuts to the program’s budget that could rip care away from disabled Californians. You can watch an Instagram reel of the rally here.

KESQ: Rally outside Calvert’s office urging he block potential Medicaid cuts
Roll Call: The Bernie Sanders tour puts California GOP on notice
NBC Palm Springs: Advocates Rally in Palm Desert Urging Rep. Ken Calvert to Reverse Vote on Medicaid Cuts

Thursday, April 17 – Children’s Health Care Rally at Rep. Young Kim’s Office: Kids, parents, advocates, and the broader community rallied in support of Medicaid in front of Rep. Young Kim’s office (CA-40) in Anaheim to call on the congresswoman to protect Medi-Cal for children who rely on the program for health care.

Wednesday, April 16—Children’s Health Care Rally at Rep. David Valadao’s Office: Kids, parents, advocates, and the broader community rallied in support of Medicaid in front of Rep. David Valadao (CA-22) in Bakersfield to call on the congressman to protect Medi-Cal for children who rely on the program for health care.

CBS: Hands Off Medicaid Rally in Bakersfield
Fox: Hands Off Medicaid Rally in Bakersfield

Friday, April 11 – Medicaid Awareness Month Event with Congressman Robert Garcia and California Medicaid Advocates: US Rep. Robert Garcia, family physician Dr. Ian Kim, and health care advocates Karen Reside and Josephine Rios joined Protect Our Care CA to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress like David Valadao, Young Kim, and Ken Calvert are working to cut Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars to pay for tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy. “House Republicans, including some here in California, are directly lying to the American public about this budget proposal. There’s no question: there are Medicaid cuts in this budget framework.” said Congressman Robert Garcia. “For us in California, the millions and millions of people who rely on Medi-Cal, they are going to either lose coverage, have reduced coverage, or be forced to leave coverage.” You can watch the event here.

KPFA: Healthcare advocates and CA congressmember Robert Garcia blast republican move to slash Medicaid by $880 billion

IOWA

Thursday, April 24 – Medicaid Community Forum with Health Care Advocates: Protect Our Care Iowa co-hosted a community forum with SEIU, AFGE, Planned Parenthood, and ICAN to highlight what’s at risk for Iowans if the proposed Medicaid cuts in the federal budget become a reality. Doctors, health care workers, and Iowa residents with lived experience shared stories and insight into how these cuts would affect access to care, local hospitals, and families across our state. “We are here today to let Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks know that we want answers and we don’t want Medicaid to get cut,” said Gabriela Fuentes of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “As you can see, people are really looking for answers. What is going to happen with Medicaid? There are so many people that are going to be affected if Medicaid is cut.”

KGAN: Iowans voice concerns over Medicaid cuts at North Liberty forum, urge action from lawmaker
KCRG: Putting a Balanced Budget to the Test

Tuesday, April 22 – Office Visit, Petition Delivery, and Storyteller Sharing at Representative Marianette Miller-Meeks’ Indianola District Office: Storytellers and advocates visited Representative Miller-Meeks’ office to discuss the importance of Medicaid and what’s at risk for vulnerable Iowans. Eleven storytellers and three staff members listed above met at Rep. Miller-Meeks’ Indianola office to speak with office staff about the proposed cuts to Medicaid and the impacts it would have on Iowans. “Any vote Congresswoman Miller-Meeks makes to gut Medicaid funding is a direct hit to the health and well-being of thousands of Iowans in her district,” said Jill Kordick of Norwalk. “Medicaid is a vital lifeline for children, seniors, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. These cuts would jeopardize access to care, force impossible choices for families, and deliver a fiscal sucker punch to rural health systems.

MAINE

Thursday, April 24 – Medicaid Day of Action Event with Maine House Chair of Appropriations Drew Gattine and Dr. Jessica Faraci: Maine House Chair of Appropriations Drew Gattine and Dr. Jessica Faraci of Maine Medical Association joined Protect Our Care Maine to highlight how Medicaid, referred to as MaineCare in Maine, is under attack like never before. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are working to cut Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars to pay for tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. Medicaid plays a vital role in providing affordable health care coverage for 400,000 Mainers, including seniors, people with disabilities, with nearly half being Maine children and people suffering from opioid addiction and mental health disorders. Gattine and Faraci discussed how the most vulnerable Mainers, particularly in rural counties, rely on MaineCare as a social safety net. “Medicaid is a vital necessity for Mainers,” said State Rep. Drew Gattine. “In rural counties like Aroostook, Somerset, and Washington, 40% of the population benefits from MaineCare. Cutting Medicaid will also jeopardize an important element of Maine’s economy. Thousands upon thousands of Mainers’ jobs in the health care industry is at stake. Hospitals, mostly rural, will be jeopardized.” You can read the post-event release here.

Spectrum News: Potential federal cuts could jeopardize MaineCare coverage, officials say
WABI Augusta: Protect Our Care Maine speak out against potential federal Medicaid cuts (also ran during 5pm, 7am broadcast)
WPFO Fox Portland: Protect Our Care Maine to Discuss What Potential Medicaid Cuts Would Mean for Mainers (also ran during 7am broadcast)
WGME: Protect Our Care Maine to Discuss What Potential Medicaid Cuts Would Mean for Mainers (also ran during 8am, 6am, 5am, and 4am broadcasts)
WGME CBS Portland: Protect Our Care Maine, Democratic Lawmaker Discuss Threat of Medicaid Cuts
WPFO Fox Portland: Protect Our Care Maine, Democratic Lawmaker Discuss Threat of Medicaid Cuts
Maine Public: Washington Republicans propose billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts that would threaten MaineCare

MINNESOTA

Wednesday, April 16 – Medicaid Defense Event with Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Health Care Advocates: Congresswoman Betty McCollum and SEIU Advocates joined Protect Our Care Minnesota to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are working to cut Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars to pay for tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy. “One out of four Minnesotans rely on Medicaid for their health care. That includes 620,000 children and 90,000 seniors. Working parents and children are 65% of enrollees,” said Congresswoman Betty McCollum. “We’re better than this. We need to budget. We need to plan with honesty and integrity, including families that are going to be directly impacted by these cuts. These are our brothers, our sisters, our cousins, our neighbors. They’re us.” You can watch the event here.

Red Lake Nation News: Congresswoman Betty McCollum and SEIU Advocates Join Protect Our Care Minnesota to Call Out GOP Plans to Cut Medicaid, Take Away Vital Health Care from Minnesotans
KSTP: McCollum Highlights Threats to Medicaid

Duluth News Tribune: Opinion: Medicaid on the Chopping Block for Northland Seniors.

“This means that cuts to Medicaid would not only hurt seniors who live in nursing homes or rely on long-term care services, but their families, too, who would have to shoulder the additional costs of caregiving. Everyone taking care of an aging relative knows the costs are exorbitant, and we should be making it easier for people to age with dignity, not harder. It’s no exaggeration to say Medicaid cuts would touch nearly every household across the nation.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Monday, April 14 – Medicaid Awareness Month/Rural Health Discussion with New Hampshire Advocates: Health care advocates Tuess Kuenning of Bi-State Primary Care Association, Ed Shanshala of the Ammonoosuc Community Health Services and Samuel Burgess from New Futures joined Protect Our Care New Hampshire to discuss how cuts to Medicaid would cause rural communities to lose access to critical health services. The panel focused on the urgent need to preserve and strengthen Medicaid in the face of potential federal funding cuts and ongoing economic uncertainty. “Medicaid is an economic lifeline for rural communities…” said Ed Shanshala, CEO of Ammonoosuc Community Health Services. “These dollars move around within the local economy. People pay their mortgage. They buy groceries. They buy a car. Without that investment in the state loan repayment program, it’s difficult. They want to come back. They want to care for their friends, family, and neighbors who nurtured them.” You can watch the full event here.

WMUR: New Hampshire Health Leaders Warn Federal Medicaid Cuts Will Hurt Rural Health Centers
Caledonian Record: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Raise Alarms In North Country
NHPR: ‘Hit From All Sides Right Now’: Proposed Budget Cuts Could Strain Nh’s Safety Net Health System

NEW YORK

Tuesday, April 22—Medicaid Awareness Month Event with Congressman George Latimer and Health Care Advocates: Congressman and former Westchester County Executive George Latimer, White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach, White Plains Common Council President Victoria Presser and Westchester County Legislator Ben Boykin joined Protect Our Care New York to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are working to cut Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars to pay for tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy. “Medicaid isn’t just a budget line, it’s a lifeline for millions of New Yorkers,” said Congressman George Latimer. “In the 16th District alone, tens of thousands of seniors depend on Medicaid to stay healthy and secure. We cannot, and will not, allow Republicans to balance the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it.” You can watch the Congressman’s remarks here.

MidHudson News: Latimer rallies Westchester residents to oppose Medicaid cuts

Monday, April 21—Medicaid Defense Event with Senator Peter Welch and Congressman Paul Tonko: Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) and Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20) hosted a rally in Plattsburgh to highlight the importance of protecting Medicaid coverage. Welch and Tonko discussed how Congressional Democrats are fighting to defend Americans’ access to health care and are working to push back against efforts to kick Vermonters and New Yorkers off Medicaid to pay for a tax cut for those who don’t pay their fair share. “This is about health care and the well-being of every American. President Trump and Republicans’ budget would cut care for those who need it most, all so they secure tax cuts for billionaires—that’s an acceptable deal to them. But as far as I’m concerned, there is no acceptable cut to health coverage,” said Senator Welch. “So while Republicans are attempting to finance a tax cut for the ultra-wealthy, Democrats will continue working to protect access to Medicaid for communities small and large and work to lower costs for hardworking families and seniors.”

NBC5 Plattsburgh: Sen. Peter Welch holds rally in Plattsburgh, sounds alarm over proposed federal cuts
NBC5 Plattsburgh: Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, NY Rep. Paul Tonko to hold joint rally in Plattsburgh
WCAX: Welch hosts North Country rally to protect Medicaid rights
WAMC: Vermont Senator Peter Welch and New York Congressman Paul Tonko hold rally to support Medicaid in Plattsburgh
VermontBiz: Welch, Tonko, community members rally in support of Medicaid
The Press-Republican: Welch, Tonko rally draws attention to possible Medicaid cuts

Playbook NY: “Medicaid Money: The Democratic-aligned Protect Our Care today will release a batch of ads knocking battleground New York House Republicans over Medicaid. The House GOP managed to pass a budget framework on Thursday that could lead to benefit program cuts. The ads are a sign Democrats will try to press the budget issue to their advantage next year — and squeeze moderate blue state lawmakers.” Written by Nick Reisman.

LoHud: Opinion: Republicans in Congress — like NY’s Mike Lawler — think Medicaid doesn’t matter.

“No one went to the polls in November to cut health care for our nation’s most vulnerable, and if Republicans get their way, we will all pay the price. It has never been more critical to do everything we can to protect affordable health care access in America.” Protect Our Care New York placed the piece in LoHud written by Carolyn Martinez-Class, co-executive director of Citizen Action of New York and Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the New York Working Families Party.

NORTH CAROLINA

Saturday, April 19 – Poor Peoples’ Campaign Rally in Raleigh, North Carolina: Protect Our Care North Carolina provided support for the Poor Peoples’ Campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. During the rally, speakers outlined several demands of the Trump administration, including maintaining due process, protecting voting rights, and adherence to a “Moral Budget”.

WRAL: Raleigh, Durham join nationwide day of action to protest actions of Trump administration

Thursday, April 24 – Medicaid Awareness Month Event with State Representative Sarah Crawford and Health Care Advocates: State Rep. Sarah Crawford; Shannon Dingle, Little Lobbyists; and Eric Schneidewind, former AARP National President joined Protect Our Care North Carolina to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. “I get to see first hand, every day, the power of Medicaid. It is not simply a safety net. It is the foundation that holds up lives, families, providers, and their entire community system of care,” said State Representative Sarah Crawford. “But that foundation is under attack by political games. National Republicans, especially Donald Trump, are actively pushing to gut this vital program. Why? To pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. “ You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here.

PENNSYLVANIA

Friday, April 25 – Medicaid Awareness Month Event with State Senator Vincent Hughes and Health Care Advocates: State Senator Hughes joined the Committee to Protect Health Care, Commonwealth Communications, and Protect Our Care Pennsylvania to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. View the pre-event advisory here.

Monday, April 14 – SEIU Medicaid Rally in Representative Ryan Mackenzie’s District: Local community groups and constituents across the district rallied at Rep. Mackenzie’s district office, demanding accountability for his support of devastating Medicaid cuts and corporate giveaways championed by President Trump and House Republicans.

Wednesday, April 16 – SEIU Medicaid Rally in Representative Lloyd Smucker’s District: Local community groups and constituents across Lancaster County will rally at Rep. Lloyd Smucker’s district office Wednesday, April 16th, demanding accountability for his support of devastating Medicaid cuts and corporate giveaways championed by President Trump and House Republicans.

Thursday, April 17 – SEIU Medicaid Rally in Representative Scott Perry’s District: Protect Our Care Pennsylvania provided support for an SEIU rally to hold Representative Scott Perry accountable for Republican attacks on Medicaid. Local community groups and constituents rallied at Rep. Scott Perry’s district office, demanding accountability for his support of devastating Medicaid cuts and corporate giveaways championed by President Trump and House Republicans.

VIRGINIA

Wednesday, April 23 – Medicaid Awareness Month Event with State Senator Ghazala Hashmi and Health Care Advocates: Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee Ghazala Hashmi joined SAARA of Virginia and Protect Our Care in discussing the impact that proposed cuts to Medicaid – including the potential automatic disenrollment of more than 629,000 Virginians in the expansion population – would have on behavioral health, including treatment for substance use disorders. “We are facing the biggest threat now to health care since the last Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” said Senator Hashmi. “Congressional Republicans are now targeting $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid only for the purpose of funding irresponsible tax giveaways for corporations and for those who are already ultra-wealthy. Gutting Medicaid is going to be devastating to Virginians in every single zip code, and it will set us back in the fight to end the opioid epidemic.” You can watch the event here.

Courthouse News: Looming Medicaid Cuts Threaten Progress Made in Combating Opioid Crisis
Richmond Times-Dispatch: For Some Virginians, Talk of Cutting Medicaid Funds Hits Home (Full text is viewable here)
WRIC: Dems Warn That 630K Virginians Could Lose Health Insurance if Medicaid Is Cut

Thursday, April 18 – Medicaid Roundtable with Congressman Bobby Scott and Health Care Advocates: Protect Our Care Virginia provided storyteller Tony Hedgepeth, a veteran and member of SEIU Virginia 512, for a roundtable hosted by Congressman Bobby Scott and The Commonwealth Institute. Congressman Scott and advocates highlighted Congressional Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid. Congressman Scott also unveiled a new report from The Commonwealth Institute on the impact of the proposed cuts to Medicaid on veterans and military families. “This letter on Medicaid suggests that they’re not going to vote for Medicaid cuts, but unfortunately that’s not the case,” said Congressman Scott. “If you read the letter they say they won’t cut Medicaid for vulnerable populations, this population, or that population, but it doesn’t rule out cuts in Medicaid … The fact of the matter is the budget cutting Medicaid is necessary to help fund tax cuts for billionaires.” You can watch the event here.

13NewsNow: Impacts of possible Medicaid cuts on veterans and their families
WAVY10: Is Medicaid on or off the DOGE chopping block?

Richmond Times Dispatch: Commentary: Slash funding for Medicaid and lose the fight against addiction

“If President Donald Trump and Congress follow through on their plans to gut Medicaid to pay for tax giveaways for corporations and billionaires, Virginia will be forced to dramatically cut back on addiction treatment services. Without federal support for Medicaid, the state would likely cut back on peer recovery specialists, stop covering crucial medication, and decrease the number of treatment beds, increasing wait times for people to get the help they need. That will have real, devastating impacts on people’s lives.” The op-ed was posted here, and the full text is viewable here.

WEST VIRGINIA

Thursday, April 24 – Medicaid Awareness Month Event with Delegate John Williams and Advocates in Morgantown, West Virginia: West Virginia delegate John Williams, West Virginians for Affordable Health Care executive director Ellen Allen, Milan Puskar Health Right executive director Laura Jones and Valley Community Services CEO G.N. James joined Protect Our Care West Virginia at Milan Puskar Health Right in Morgantown to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are working to cut Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars to pay for tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy. April marks the eighth annual Medicaid Awareness Month. During the event, speakers will discuss what’s at stake for this vital program and for the over 500,000 West Virginians who rely on Medicaid for health care. “I want my people to have health care,” said Delegate John Williams. “Medicaid has been a lifeline for them. It’s been something—with the expanded population—they’ve had access to for around 12 years now. To take this from them would literally be a death sentence for West Virginians. It would be an economic death sentence for our rural hospitals. This is an incredibly important issue, one of the most important issues that I’ve seen in my time in the legislature, and we need to be fighting it.” You can watch the full event here.

WDTV: Del. Williams joins ‘Protect Our Care WV’ in effort to protect Medicaid
WVNS-TV: GOP delegate says West Virginia hospitals rely on Medicaid patients to remain operational, warns against federal cuts

West Virginia Watch: Opinion: Is West Virginia — and the rest of the country — prepared to care for our seniors?

“There is an unprecedented and unnecessary attack on one of the largest health insurance programs in the country. The GOP has plans to rip Medicaid from our seniors — and every other person assisted by Medicaid — in the current budget process,” Allen writes. “Under the current proposal, West Virginia stands to lose over a half a billion federal dollars. And we all saw a few weeks ago how eager West Virginia Republicans are to throw tens of thousands of their constituents under the bus if Congress cuts the program. They didn’t even wait for their Congressional delegation. They preempted them by attempting to sneak in a Medicaid trigger bill signaling the message: Hey, it’s OK, we don’t care if you gut Medicaid. We are ready and willing.” Protect Our Care West Virginia placed the piece by West Virginians for Affordable Health Care executive director Ellen Allen.

Charleston Gazette: Mail Op-Ed: Capito, Justice Must Hold Stance on Health Care

“A cut that huge would truly be, as Justice said, beyond catastrophic across the U.S. and especially in low-income states like West Virginia,” Wilson writes. “Our already dismal health statistics would get worse. Minor issues will turn major. Substance use disorder will go untreated. The cost of emergency room visits and uncompensated care will grow and be passed on to others. Rural hospitals will close. Jobs will be lost. And people will die. The margins in Congress are razor thin. Our senators’ votes could influence the final outcome, especially after the House voted to throw us under the bus. I hope Justice and Capito take their own advice and side with the people of West Virginia again.” Protect Our Care West Virginia placed the piece by columnist Rick Wilson reflecting on Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice’s stances on Medicaid and health care from eight years ago, and their past messages supporting Medicaid and Obamacare. The full piece is viewable here.

Thursday, April 10 – Disability Advocacy Medicaid Awareness Month Event with Caregiver Mariah Plante and Advocates: Mariah Plante, who is the full-time caregiver of her brother with disabilities, and health care advocates Sherri McKinney from SEIU 1199 and Ellen Allen from West Virginians for Affordable Health Care joined Protect Our Care West Virginia to kick off Medicaid Awareness Month and discuss the GOP plan to cut Medicaid and risk health care for 500,000 West Virginians, including 86,000 people with disabilities. Plante shared her story of taking care of her brother and relying on the Medicaid IDD Waiver program: “Even though there are few resources available for families like ours in this part of the state, Medicaid is our lifeline,” Plante said. “It covers his Medical care, eyeglasses, and behavioral support, including specialists that would otherwise be totally inaccessible if we had to pay out of pocket for their services. Most importantly, Medicaid enables us to care for Matt at home and provide him with the daily support only a family member can give–instead of in a state-run facility. If Medicaid were to pull back on that support, a lot of people who can’t afford to take care of their loved ones will fall through the cracks.” You can watch the full event here.

Charleston Gazette: Opinion: Medicaid Cuts Put Our Children At Risk

“Staffing shortages might lead to closures of facilities that West Virginians rely on for care,” Lefeber writes. “Perhaps the most drastic impact would be felt in rural parts of the state, which are home to the vast majority, or two-thirds, of our residents. Children in rural areas are more dependent on Medicaid coverage and 36% of hospitals are already at risk of closing.” Protect Our Care West Virginia placed an opinion piece by the executive director of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Candice Lefeber, who explains that Medicaid cuts would be particularly detrimental to West Virginia children, as around 40% enrolled in Medicaid. The full piece is viewable here.

WISCONSIN

Wednesday, April 23 – Medicaid Awareness Month Roundtable with Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Health Care Advocates: U.S. Representative Gwen Moore held a roundtable discussion in conjunction with Protect Our Care Wisconsin to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are working to cut Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars to pay for tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy. “Medicaid work requirements are functionally medicaid cuts – Mom and I are drowning in paperwork already as it is,” said Erin Miller, a young adult on Badgercare. “Please, no more paperwork. More requirements for people who are already working, like me, are just more work.” You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here.

Tuesday, April 22 – Medicaid Accountability Town Hall with Congressman Mark Pocan and Health Care Advocates in La Crosse, Wisconsin: Protect Our Care Wisconsin co-sponsored an accountability town hall with Congressman Pocan, several partner organizations from across Wisconsin, and a guest appearance from Senator Bernie Sanders. During the town hall, Congressman Pocan answered questions from constituents of Representative Derrick Van Orden who shared their concerns about a variety of issues including health care, taxes, and government programs. “Someone’s got to fight for them,” said Congressman Pocan. “And if these certain members are unwilling to listen to constituents, I’m going to make them uncomfortable until they do.”

WIZM: Around 300 at La Crosse Town Hall With US House Rep. Mark Pocan and Surprise Visit From Sen. Bernie Sanders
News8000: Pocan on Third District Town Hall: ‘Someone’s Got to Fight for Them’
WXOX: Opportunity Wisconsin Hosts Rep. Pocan in Town Hall, Rep. Van Orden a No Show
WisPolitics: Opportunity Wisconsin: Congressman Pocan joins La Crosse town hall meeting as Congressman Van Orden continues to dodge in-person town halls
WIZM: Rep. Pocan, and Bernie Sanders, Highlight a Town Hall Discussion in La Crosse
WKBT: Representative Mark Pocan Will Host a Town Hall in La Crosse
WAOW: Representative Pocan Holds Town Hall Outside of His District
WMSN: La Crosse Voters Get the Chance to Directly Question a Member of Congress
WKBT: Accountability Town Hall in La Crosse
WISC: La Crosse Voters Question One of Their Representatives
WKBT: Rep. Pocan Faces Third District Voters in La Crosse

Tuesday, April 15 – “Hands Off Medicaid” Roundtable with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin and Health Care Advocates: U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin held a “Hands Off Medicaid” roundtable in Green Bay, Wisconsin in conjunction with Protect Our Care Wisconsin to highlight how Medicaid is under attack like never before. “Threats to Medicaid are very serious right now,” said Senator Baldwin. “…as the president and Republicans in Congress are proposing massive slashes to the Medicaid program,” You can view the post-event release here.

FOX11: Despite GOP Claims to Not Gut Medicaid, Democrats Continue Voicing Concerns Over Program
WeAreGreenBay: Baldwin Brings ‘Hands off Medicaid’ Tour to Green Bay as GOP Health Proposals Move Forward
State Affairs Pro: U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin calls out GOP plans to cut Medicaid, take away vital health care from Wisconsinites
WBAY: Senator Baldwin Stops in Green Bay
WBAY: Baldwin Hands Off Medicaid Tour Comes to Green Bay
WBAY: Baldwin Visits Green Bay
WFRV: “Hands Off Medicaid” Tour Comes to Green Bay
WFRV: Senator Baldwin Continues Medicaid Tour
WTAQ: Senator Baldwin Discusses the Republican Plan to Cut Medicaid
WTAQ: Senator Baldwin Shares Her Story About Medicaid
WMTV: Senator Baldwin Continues Her Hands Off Medicaid Tour in Green Bay
WLUK: Senator Baldwin Continues Her Push to Protect Medicaid

ashoup In News, Press Call

NEW: Protect Our Care Hosts Day of Action Telling Republicans “Hands Off Medicaid”

Day of Action Features Events Across the Country, New Ad Campaign, Nationwide Kiosks Calling Out GOP Plans to Rip Away Vital Health Care

View the Ads Here

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, April 24, Protect Our Care is hosting a Medicaid day of action with events across the country and a new ad campaign targeting key Republican Senators and House members as part of its $10 Million “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign. The day of action calls on Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress to put an end to their war on health care as they work to cut Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars to pay for tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy.

Protect Our Care’s new digital ads target Senators Thom Tillis, Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, Jim Justice, Shelley Moore Capito, Ron Johnson, and Rep. Derrick Van Orden, calling them out for their disastrous votes to cut Medicaid for seniors, children, families, people with disabilities, and more. Events will take place in North Carolina, California, Iowa, Arizona, West Virginia, and Maine. Additionally, Protect Our Care is launching new kiosk ads across nine states. The kiosk advertising will target 14 House Members — including four key members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will write the GOP bill to slash Medicaid to provide tax cuts to the rich. The ads will generate 250,000 impressions across the 14 congressional districts and will appear on digital kiosks in convenience stores, pharmacies, doctors offices, eateries, and social spaces.

To mark this day of action, Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“Poll after poll confirms Trump and Republicans’ scheme to gut Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for billionaires is completely out of step with the views of the American people including Trump’s own supporters. Medicaid provides vital affordable health care for millions of people, touching nearly every community and most households in the country, but the Republican health care agenda isn’t about families or everyday Americans — it’s about Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy, no matter who pays the price.”

Digital Ads

Links to each of the ads can be found below:
North Carolina – Thom Tillis
Iowa – Chuck Grassley/Joni Ernst
West Virginia – Jim Justice/Shelley Moore Capito
Wisconsin – Ron Johnson/Rep. Derrick Van Orden

Sample Ad Script for North Carolina:

Narrator: Your senator in Congress, Thom Tillis, just voted to slash our health care to help pay for massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

Over 70 million Americans count on Medicaid for their health care. And putting seniors, children with disabilities, working families, and rural hospitals at risk to provide another tax break for the wealthiest Americans is just plain wrong.

Call Thom Tillis and tell him – Hands off Medicaid.

Kiosks

Links to each of the kiosk ads can be found below:
Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ-1)
Rep. Young Kim (R-CA-40)
Rep. David Valadao (R-CA-22)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA-41)
Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO-8)
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-1)
Rep. John James (R-MI-10)
Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ-7)
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY-1)
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-2)
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY-17)
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA-7)
Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA-8)
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA-4)

April 24 Events

NORTH CAROLINA

WHO:
State Rep. Sarah Crawford
Shannon Dingle, Little Lobbyists
Eric Schneidewind, former AARP National President

WHERE: 301 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC Conference Room. Register by emailing Vanessa Watson ([email protected]).

WHEN: Thursday, April 24th at 2 PM ET

CALIFORNIA

WHO:
SEIU and California health care advocates

WHERE: 2700 M Street, Bakersfield, CA, Event Sign-Up

WHEN: Thursday, April 24th at 11:30 AM PST

IOWA

WHO:
Dr. Andrea Greiner
Mandi Remington
Pat Kearns
Evelyn Irving
Mike Owen
Ed Esbeck

WHERE: Gerdin Conference Center, 520 W Cherry Street, North Liberty, IA 52317

WHEN: Thursday, April 24th at 6 PM CT

ARIZONA

WHO:
Arizona State Senator Analise Ortiz
Healthcare Rising Arizona (SEIU)
Planned Parenthood Arizona
Morgan Finkelstein, Protect Our Care Arizona

WHERE: Arizona State Capitol Building, Phoenix, AZ

WHEN: Thursday, April 24th at 12 PM AZT

WEST VIRGINIA

WHO:
Lynette Maselli, Protect Our Care West Virginia
Delegate John Williams, Morgantown
Ellen Allen, West Virginians for Affordable Health Care
Laura Jones, Milan Puskar Health Right
G.N. Janes, Valley Community Services

WHERE: Milan Puskar Health Right, 341 Spruce Street, Morgantown, WV 26505

WHEN: Thursday, April 24th at 11 AM ET

MAINE

WHO:
Maine Representative Drew Gattine
Anne Woloson, Consumers for Affordable Health Care
Toby McGrath, Protect Our Care Maine
Dr. Jessica Faraci, Maine Medical Association

WHERE: Maine State House Welcome Center, Augusta, ME

WHEN: Thursday, April 24th at 12 PM ET

April is Medicaid Awareness Month, and Protect Our Care is continuing its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign with paid ads, new research, and nationwide events to underscore the importance of Medicaid across the country. Alongside partners, lawmakers, and other advocates, Protect Our Care is working to defend Medicaid from the Republican-led plan to slash funding to pay for another round of tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations.

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ROUNDUP: Republican Plans to Slash Medicaid and Sell Americans Out to the Rich

While experts across the country are raising the alarm about the devastation of Medicaid cuts, Republicans are charging forward with their plan to slash $880 billion from the program in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, such a drastic reduction in funding will lead to the largest cuts in Medicaid history and rip health care away from millions of seniors in nursing homes, children, veterans, working families, and more. Every single community across the country will feel the effects of these cuts. In addition, poll after poll after poll has found Republican lawmakers are completely out of step with the American people when it comes to Medicaid. A majority of voters, including GOP voters, oppose cuts to Medicaid and are counting on Republicans to do the right thing – reject cuts to Medicaid.

During this Medicaid Awareness Month, Protect Our Care is continuing its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign with theme weeks to underscore the importance of Medicaid across the country. Alongside partners, lawmakers, and other advocates, Protect Our Care is working to defend Medicaid from the Republican-led plan to slash funding to pay for another round of tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations.

The New Republic: GOP Rep. Lays Out Exactly How Party Will Kick People Off Medicaid.

“The GOP wants to drastically decrease the federal match rate for the ACA expansion and shift more financial responsibility to states, Republican Representative Austin Scott told Fox Business Tuesday. The cut would be devastating to the 20 million Americans who currently rely on the expansion for health insurance coverage—many of whom reside in red states—and would leave some 40 states that have adopted the ACA expansion to fend for themselves with their limited budgets. According to an analysis from the health nonprofit KFF, if states had to pay a higher match-rate percentage, many would likely abandon the ACA program altogether, resulting in millions of lost coverage for low-income Americans.”

CNN: Republicans Are Targeting a Pillar of Obamacare. Millions of Their Own Voters May Pay a Price.

“As the pressure grows on congressional Republicans to identify cuts in Medicaid, they are crashing into a familiar problem: The changes that could save the most money would impose heavy costs on many of their own voters.”
“But GOP constituencies would hardly be immune if Congress rescinds the expansion. Nearly three dozen House Republicans also represent districts where the number of people receiving coverage through that Medicaid expansion exceeds the national district average of about 61,600, the analysis found. And nearly two dozen GOP senators likewise represent states with a substantial population of enrollees covered through the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.”

Forbes: Medicaid Is On The Menu As Republicans Seek Trump Budget Deal.

“Two months ago, the House of Representatives adopted a budget resolution that calls for $2 trillion in cuts to mandatory spending over the next decade, including $880 billion from the part of the budget that funds Medicaid and Medicare. If Congress slashes Medicaid, lower-income Americans will lose far more than they gain from their modest tax breaks.”

The Hill: Medicaid Cuts Risk Worsening Black Maternal Health Crisis.

“Medicaid’s coverage of prenatal care is vital to closing the gaps in the maternal mortality crisis, said Stacey Brayboy, senior vice president of public policy and government affairs at March of Dimes. Medicaid’s prenatal care can help cover not only screenings like Ewell needed each week, but can also help track pregnant people’s cardiovascular health, risks for preeclampsia, high blood pressure and glucose levels — all chronic stressors that can cause preterm births.”

The Hill: Cutting Federal Medicaid Expansion Funding Could Lead to 30K Additional Deaths: Analysis.

“[A]nalysis by the Centers for American Progress (CAP), shared first with The Hill, found that about 34,200 more people would die annually if the federal government reduced its current 90 percent match for the expansion costs and states responded by dropping their Medicaid expansion… ‘The federal government is paying 90 percent of the Medicaid expansion. What we have talked about is moving that 90 percent level of the expansion back toward the more traditional level,’ Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) said in an interview Monday… Eliminating the enhanced federal match for the Medicaid expansion population would dramatically reduce federal spending, but it would also shift those costs to the states, forcing governors to make difficult decisions.”

Newsweek: Republican Explains Potential Changes to Medicaid.

“Republicans are considering lowering the FMAP, which would shift more the funding to the states, Scott told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Monday… Dr. Michelle Au, an anesthesiologist and Democratic Georgia state Representative, [said] on X: ‘The 9 to 1 federal match applies to states that fully expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Congressional Republicans know states can’t cover the same number of patients if this federal match is cut. It also allows them to blame governors for the cuts Congress makes.’”

Politicus USA: Republicans Plan To Gut Medicaid Funding Then Blame The States When People Lose Healthcare.

“Republicans think that the American people are stupid. This is not a statement that is made lightly or in jest, but it is the only possible explanation for the scheme that they have come up with to avoid blame for gutting Medicaid… The scam is simple. Republicans are going to slash the federal funding and then force governors to throw people off Medicaid, because their states can’t afford to come up with another 40% in Medicaid funds.”

Semafor: Choppy Waters for Gop’s Medicaid Cuts.

“When Republicans get into the details of cutting Medicaid spending to pay for tax cuts, things get pretty perilous. Consider Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who on Monday floated shrinking the federal government’s 90% share of Medicaid expansion for states that opted to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act (Georgia is one of 10 states that have not expanded the program). He said on Fox Business that ‘we are going to ask the states to pick up and pay some additional percentage.’ By Tuesday evening, congressional Democrats were hammering the plan, while Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., distanced himself from the idea.”

Axios: Hospitals Warn of “Devastating” D.C. Medicaid Cut.

“A House Republican proposal to cut the District of Columbia’s federal Medicaid reimbursement to generate savings for reconciliation is sending shudders through the city’s hospitals… [T]he D.C. Hospital Association is warning it would have “devastating” effects, including longer wait times and even the possible closure of a hospital… The proposal under consideration would cut D.C.’s federal Medicaid reimbursement, or FMAP, from 70% to 50%.”

The State Journal-Register: ‘It Just Seems So Unfair:’ Illinois Families Brace for Possible Medicaid Cuts.

“But attending a day program can be ‘prohibitively’ expensive without Medicaid, Nicoletta added. ‘We just don’t know what’s going to happen, and it just seems so unfair that there are legislators and government officials that are making decisions about these things when they haven’t thought it all through, I don’t think.’”

The Daily News-Miner: Opinion: Senator’s Medicaid Math Doesn’t Add Up for Alaska.

“Sullivan castigated Democrats for opposing his amendment to protect Medicaid for the “most vulnerable,” claiming they were hypocrites who don’t want to protect Medicaid. But when an amendment to delete budget instructions that would slash Medicaid came up for a vote, Sullivan opposed that attempt to protect the program.”

WyoFile: Opinion: Gutting Medicaid to Give Tax Breaks to the Wealthy Isn’t a Smart Choice, Especially for Wyoming.

“Republicans have targeted Medicaid funding for decades and it appears the party’s leaders, axes anxiously in hand, finally have it on the chopping block. But the GOP doesn’t have to make huge cuts to a program that provides health insurance to 79 million low-income Americans.”
“What happens when Americans realize that an $880 billion cut to Medicaid means their aging family members won’t be eligible for nursing home care? The Economic Policy Institute says cutting Medicaid to pay for low taxes on the rich is a terrible trade. The institute notes Medicaid cuts that deprive children of access to health coverage could actually increase the federal budget in the long term because these children will not only be less healthy, they’ll grow up to earn less in wages, pay less in taxes and be more likely to receive other public benefits.”

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NEW REPORT: Trump, Musk, and RFK Jr.’s Destruction of HHS Will Hurt Millions of Americans

From Cancer Patients and Pregnant Women to Seniors with Alzheimer’s and Kids with Autism – Report Shows Trump’s Dismantling of HHS Isn’t Streamlining Government, It’s Risking Lives

Click here to read the new report.

Washington, D.C. — Protect Our Care is releasing a new report detailing who will be hurt by Donald Trump, RFK Jr., and Elon Musk’s massive cuts and layoffs at HHS. Rather than lowering costs or improving care, Trump and MAGA Republicans are focused on slashing essential health programs to bankroll more tax breaks for the wealthy. The report comes as the administration proposes cutting one-third of HHS’s budget, continues to freeze grant payments, and suspends FDA food safety inspections. Across the Mall, Republicans in Congress continue to pursue devastating cuts to Medicaid. Republicans are waging a full-scale attack on Americans’ health care, and the deadly consequences are only beginning to surface.

These GOP cuts aren’t ‘draining the swamp’ or making government more efficient. They are tearing apart the programs and health care Americans count on and endangering American lives. By slashing HHS, Trump and Musk are targeting women, children, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, cancer patients, seniors with Alzheimer’s, pregnant women and infants, people of color, and more. Trump and his administration are ripping care and critical research away from the Americans who need it most. They are undermining the safety of our food and water, slashing vital programs that protect kids from lead poisoning or help prevent domestic violence, and eliminating millions of dollars in research and innovation around cancer, diabetes, children’s health, and so much more.

“These cuts are more than just chaotic and uninformed – they are dangerous and deadly,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach, Former Senior Counselor to Obama’s HHS Secretary. “Trump and RFK Jr., with the help of Elon Musk, have launched a senseless attack on the programs that keep Americans safe and healthy. These cuts target couples looking for the best IVF care, people with mental health or substance use disorders, low-income children enrolled in Head Start, and every American who’s ever worried about whether their food, drugs, or cosmetics are free of harmful chemicals. And the scary part is that we are only beginning to understand the devastating impacts these unprecedented cuts will have on public health and our health care system.”

Here’s a summary of who will be hurt:

Women: Gutted research funding for women’s health issues and programs around reproductive health, sexual and domestic violence prevention, and maternal health
People with disabilities: Cut Meals on Wheels and the agency helping people with disabilities live independently
Children: Dismantled offices administering key child care programs and programs around asthma control, lead poisoning prevention, school shootings, and more
People fighting cancer and chronic illnesses: Eliminated and delayed critical research and jeopardized critical data
Seniors: Halted Alzheimer’s and other research and dissolved the agency responsible for supporting seniors and community living programs
People battling addiction and mental health issues: Gutted agencies combating drug overdoses and mental illnesses, regulating tobacco, and working to improve care
LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color: Eliminated research on health care disparities and inequity and targeted programs aimed at addressing diseases that disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color

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New Polling Shows Widespread Popularity of Expanding Medicare Drug Negotiations

While Republicans Work With Big Drug Companies to Ban Medicare Negotiation, Polling Shows Voters Across the Political Spectrum Support Expanding Lower Prices for Hard-Working Families

New polling from Fabrizio Ward commissioned by Arnold Ventures found that more than two-thirds of voters across the country and the political spectrum want to give Medicare power to negotiate lower prices for ALL drugs – expanding the Drug Price Negotiation Program, not contracting it. Medicare recently started negotiating the prices of some drugs for people with Medicare, but some in Congress are threatening to take that away – banning the negotiation of lower prices.

Donald Trump and his Republican allies are working to weaken or ban Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices, which would increase costs for seniors and taxpayers – all to line the pockets of big drug companies. Donald Trump recently signed an executive order designed by big drug companies to delay Medicare drug price negotiations. If Republicans ban or severely limit Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices, polling confirms that they will be turning their backs on their own constituents.

Meanwhile, Democrats lowered drug prices for people with Medicare without a single Republican vote, and they have since been fighting to expand these drug savings for hard-working families and give Medicare the authority to negotiate lower costs for more drugs more quickly.

No Matter the Political Party Affiliation, Voters Want the Government to Negotiate Lower Drug Prices. 88 percent of all voters and 86 percent of Trump voters say it is important for the government to negotiate prices.

A Majority of Voters Want Medicare to Negotiate the Price for All Prescription Drugs Right Now. 66 percent of Trump voters and 67 percent of swing voters want Medicare to negotiate the prices of all the prescription drugs it buys right now. And when given the choice between saving money to pay for Trump’s tax cuts by expanding Medicare negotiations or by cutting Medicaid, voters choose lowering drug prices by nearly 70 points.

A Large Majority Believe Prescription Prices Are Too High. 89 percent of all voters, including 89 percent of Trump voters, think Americans spend too much on prescription drugs.

Over 90 Percent of Voters Want Congress to Reduce Prescription Drug Costs. 78 percent of all voters say it is very important and 13 percent of all voters say it is fairly important for Congress to take action.

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HEADLINES: SCOTUS Hears Arguments In Kennedy v. Braidwood, The Case That Puts Free Preventative Care At Risk

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Kennedy, et al. v. Braidwood, a case in which far-right extremists are seeking to invalidate a key portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires insurers to cover lifesaving preventive services for free, including cancer screenings, statins to address high cholesterol levels, mental health screenings, and HIV prevention medication. Providing no-cost coverage of lifesaving screenings and services has saved innumerable lives, improved health outcomes, and reduced disparities in care. In total, over 150 million Americans have benefited from this provision of the ACA. Read more about the case here. Last week, Protect Our Care held a press call warning of the threats to American health care posed by the case.

Court watchers report the Supreme Court seems poised to reject the right-wing plaintiffs’ claims, but the threat does not stop there. Given the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on experts, science, and health care, they are likely to undermine the availability of free vaccines, contraception, mental health, and other critical services.

Politico: Supreme Court Appears to Reject Conservative Argument Over Obamacare Provision.

“But while President Joe Biden’s Justice Department argued that eliminating the coverage requirements would harm the public’s health, Trump’s attorneys focused exclusively Monday on Kennedy’s supervisory power. That argument has made progressive health advocates who filed amicus briefs in the case nervous — particularly given Kennedy’s views about vaccines and other preventive health care that contradict the medical community’s consensus, as well as his reported desire to overhaul other HHS advisory committees.”

Jezebel: This Supreme Court Case Underscored How Much Power RFK Jr. Has Over Our Health Insurance.

“Leslie Dach, a former HHS aide who now leads the group Protect Our Care, told Politico: ‘We are very, very nervous that they will take a sledgehammer to vaccines, take a sledgehammer to contraception and a number of other preventative services that the American people benefit from and need.’”

Axios: ACA Preventive Care Case Reaches Supreme Court.

“Progressive advocacy groups remain concerned that the Trump administration could use its authority to limit coverage of vaccines, contraception and other scientifically backed preventive services. ‘We’re going to have to remain very, very vigilant in seeing how the administration, which thankfully is defending the law now, behaves when the power is in their hands,’ Leslie Dach, chair of Protect Our Care, told reporters last week.”

Politico: Obamacare Returns to SCOTUS, With Preventive Care on the Line.

“‘It’s important that they’re looking to protect this authority, but we’re hoping that they’re not just doing it because they want the ability to ruin our health care,’ said Leslie Dach, a former senior counselor at HHS who now leads the group Protect Our Care. ‘We are very, very nervous that they will take a sledgehammer to vaccines, take a sledgehammer to contraception and a number of other preventative services that the American people benefit from and need.’”

The Hill: SCOTUS to Hear Obamacare Free Care Case.

“‘The minute that provision gets struck down … we will be back at the mercy of the insurance companies. They’ll still get the same premium from you, but they’ll offer less services,’ said Leslie Dach, executive chair of the Democratic-aligned group Protect Our Care.”

Politico Pulse: Obamacare in Court … Again.

“‘It’s important that they’re looking to protect this authority, but we’re hoping that they’re not just doing it because they want the ability to ruin our health care,’ said Leslie Dach, a former senior counselor at HHS who now leads the group Protect Our Care. ‘We are very, very nervous that they will take a sledgehammer to vaccines, take a sledgehammer to contraception and a number of other preventative services that the American people benefit from and need.’”

AP News: US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate.

“The case could have big ramifications for the law’s preventive care coverage requirements for an estimated 150 million Americans. Medications and services that could be affected include statins to prevent heart disease, lung cancer screenings, HIV-prevention drugs and medication to lower the chance of breast cancer for high-risk women.”

ABC News: Supreme Court Divided Over Obamacare Mandate for No-Cost Preventive Health Benefits.

“‘The ACA’s preventive services requirement has been a game-changer, providing access to evidence-based preventive care and early detection of serious medical conditions,’ said Wayne Turner, a senior attorney at the National Health Law Program, a nonprofit group that advocates for low-income communities. ‘The ACA’s coverage and cost-sharing protections are especially important for low-income persons, who will be harmed most if the Supreme Court refuses to allow the ACA provision to stand.’”

The New York Times: Supreme Court Wrestles With Challenge to Affordable Care Act Over Free Preventive Care.

“But the case, Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, could have broader implications for tens of millions of Americans who receive a wide array of free health care services, including cancer and diabetes screenings, medications to reduce heart disease and strokes, and eye ointment for newborns to prevent infections causing blindness. A ruling in favor of the challengers could mean that insurers would no longer be required to offer free coverage for any care the United States Preventive Services Task Force has recommended since 2010.”

CBS: Dispute Involving Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Care Coverage Faces Supreme Court.

“If the Supreme Court affirms the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, major hospital associations and leading nonprofits advocating on behalf of breast cancer and HIV patients have warned it would limit access to life-saving medical care for millions of patients, as insurers would no longer be required to cover at no cost to patients the services recommended by the task force.”

CNN: Supreme Court Could Help Preserve Obamacare’s No-Cost Preventive Care Task Force.

“At stake is the ability of millions of Americans to access cost-free services under the Affordable Care Act such as cancer screenings, statins that help prevent cardiovascular disease, PrEP drugs that help prevent HIV infections, and counseling referrals for pregnant and postpartum women at increased risk of depression. The task force’s recommendations were challenged by a Texas business, Braidwood Management, that objected on religious grounds to covering certain preventive services, including the PrEP medications.”

The Washington Post: Challenge to ACA Preventive-Care Panel Draws Skepticism From Supreme Court.

“Health-care providers and nonprofit organizations say the closely watched case could affect critical health services for many Americans who might otherwise not have access to them.”

Fierce Healthcare: Supreme Court Appears Willing to Save ACA Preventive Services Task Force.

“‘Stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, the challengers’ claim is supposedly about political accountability,’ said Andrew Pincus, a partner at law firm Mayer Brown. ‘But if that is what they really were after, it’s been achieved: the government agrees that the Secretary can control whether recommendations become binding on private parties through his power to appoint and remove USPSTF members and his power to issue regulations determining when and whether recommendations become effective.’”

The Advocate: Justices Kavanaugh & Barrett Signal They May Uphold Access to PrEP and Preventative Care Protections.

“The case began as a religious objection to PrEP and has expanded into a full-blown assault on the ACA’s preventive care guarantees. LGBTQ+ and public health advocates warn that a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would allow insurers to begin denying or charging for services currently guaranteed to be free—like STI testing, diabetes screening, contraception, and maternal care.”

Mother Jones: The Latest Supreme Court Case Targeting the ACA Comes from a Longtime Anti-Gay Activist.

“‘The people who are going to be hurt most are the people who can’t just pull out a credit card and pay full cost for a service, or pay a $50 co-pay or an $80 co-pay,’ says Wayne Turner, senior attorney at the National Health Law Program. ‘It is a literal lifesaver for people to be able to have some early detection.’”

Fierce Healthcare: ‘At the Mercy of Insurance Companies’: Supreme Court Braces for ACA Preventive Coverage Suit Oral Arguments.

“‘I think at the end of the day, we need to make sure we understand this is going to mean more deaths at even a higher cost to Americans, and there’s no question that there’s savings down the line when we do this,’ said Georges Benjamin, M.D., executive director at the American Public Health Association. If the provision is overturned, it will lead to more deaths from cancer, strokes and drug use, he added.”
“‘It was an easy choice,’ said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in a press briefing April 16. ‘First, the plaintiff’s argument doesn’t hold up and relies on bad faith reading of the appointments clause, and the court could also take steps to repair the provision in question without destroying these essential programs.’”

STAT: In Braidwood v. Kennedy, Supreme Court Is Hearing Challenge to ACA Rule Requiring Free Preventive Care.

“‘This is about giving them the power, to some extent. This is a fight to say, the secretary has the power. If they win, they can uphold the experts’ recommendations or attempt to veto them, which then would likely trigger a court challenge,’ said Andrew Pincus, a lawyer representing the American Public Health Association in an amicus brief filed to the Court.”

Washington Examiner: Supreme Court Skeptical Of Undoing Obamacare Preventive Coverage Mandates.

“Braidwood Management, a Texas Christian-owned business, argued that the task force members ought to be construed as ‘primary officers,’ meaning it is unconstitutional for them to be appointed by the secretary of Health and Human Services, as they are today. Instead, they should be subject to presidential appointment and Senate confirmation under the appointment clause of the Constitution.”
“If the court rules in favor of Braidwood, all changes that the task force has made since 2010 would be invalidated, including the HIV medication PrEP, cancer screenings, and certain maternal care measures.”

STAT: Opinion: Employers Should Continue Waiving Preventive Care Out-Of-Pocket Costs Regardless Of How Supreme Court Rules.

“The Supreme Court has several options in this case: It could rule narrowly or broadly in favor of the plaintiffs, rule against them, or avoid making a substantive ruling altogether. A narrow ruling for the plaintiffs might apply only to their specific circumstances, leaving preventive care provisions intact for other employers. A broader ruling could eliminate the requirement for insurers to cover services recommended by the USPSTF without cost-sharing — potentially limited to those recommendations issued after 2010, including PrEP. A very broad decision could strike down all preventive service mandates under the Affordable Care Act. Alternatively, the court may rule against the plaintiffs entirely or decline to decide the case on procedural grounds.”
“Preventive health care coverage has proven to be a worthwhile benefit that saves lives and improves health. Regardless of the Supreme Court decision, there are compelling reasons for employers to maintain coverage of preventive services without cost sharing like deductibles and copays.”

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NEW: District-Level Fact Sheets Expose House Republicans’ Hypocrisy As They Move to Slash Medicaid

Protect Our Care’s New District-Specific Fact Sheets Cover Key Republican Lawmakers from AZ, CA, NY, PA, WA, IA, CO, MI, and NJ

Washington D.C. – Protect Our Care is releasing new district-level fact sheets that expose key House Republicans for lying to the American people about their scheme to gut Medicaid in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. The fact sheets cover ten Republicans from swing districts as well as four GOP members of the Energy & Commerce Committee who are currently tasked with cutting $880 billion from Medicaid.

In addition to outlining the lies from each Congressman, each fact sheet outlines past budget votes, the number of constituents – including seniors, children, and people with disabilities – whose health care would be put at risk, and research proving Republicans’ proposed $880 billion in cuts will take Medicaid benefits away from people.

“Republicans are only weeks away from ripping health care away from millions of Americans, including their own voters,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “They are lying to their constituents at home while continuing to vote for dismantling Medicaid in Washington.”

April is Medicaid Awareness Month, and Protect Our Care is leading the charge to defend Medicaid and the care that Americans count on with its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign. The campaign includes TV, digital, and radio ads targeting Republican-held swing districts, report releases, and events around the country.

Click below to access each district-specific fact sheet:
David Schweikert (AZ-01)
David Valadao (CA-22)
Young Kim (CA-40)
Ken Calvert (CA-41)
Nick LaLota (NY-01)
Andrew Garbarino (NY-02)
Mike Lawler (NY-17)
Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07)
Rob Bresnahan (PA-08)
Dan Newhouse (WA-04)
Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01)
John James (MI-10)
Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-07)
Gabe Evans (CO-08)

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TODAY: Protect Our Care Holds Events Across the Nation Headlined By Senator Gallego and Reps. Pocan and Latimer

***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR APRIL 22***

Protect Our Care Is Holding Events in New York, California, Iowa, Arizona, and Wisconsin

Today, Protect Our Care is holding events across the country to call on Republicans to put an end to their war on health care, including any cuts to Medicaid in the upcoming budget. These events are just a few of the 30+ events Protect Our Care is organizing during April recess as we work to defend Medicaid from devastating cuts. Protect Our Care is also collaborating with SEIU to host events discussing the importance of Medicaid to patients, workers, and communities.

House Republicans have pressed forward with their budget, which includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. Speakers will address the urgent need for Congress to stop Republican efforts to slash Medicaid and call on lawmakers to protect access to affordable health care, not take it away.

April is Medicaid Awareness Month, and Protect Our Care is leading the charge to defend Medicaid and the care that Americans count on with its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign. The campaign includes TV, radio, and digital ads targeting Republican-held swing districts, report releases, and events around the country.

TUESDAY

NEW YORK

WHO:
Representative George Latimer (NY-16)
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach
New York health care advocates

WHAT: Medicaid Awareness Month Event

WHERE:  White Plains Adult Community Center, 65 Mitchell Place, White Plains, NY 10601

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 11:45 AM ET

CALIFORNIA

WHO:
SEIU
California health care advocates

WHAT: Medicaid Rally in Representative Young Kim’s District (CA-40)

WHERE:  180 N. Riverview Drive, Anaheim, CA

RSVP: Event Sign-Up

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 11:30 AM PST // 2:30 PM ET

IOWA

WHO:
Antonia Rivera, Progress Iowa
Sue Dinsdale, Iowa Citizen Action Network
Gabriela Fuentes, Planned Parenthood
Randy Dillon from Fairfield, Iowa
Jill Kordick, Health care administration, Warren County
Elizabeth Feldman

WHAT: Congresswoman Miller-Meeks Office Visit

WHERE:  Rep. Miller-Meeks’ Indianola Office, 126 N Howard St, Indianola, Iowa 50125

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 2 PM CT // 3 PM ET

ARIZONA

WHO:
Senator Ruben Gallego
Healthcare Rising Arizona (SEIU)
Reproductive Freedom for All
Morgan Finkelstein, POC Arizona

WHAT: “Save Medicaid Town Hall”

WHERE: Location available upon RSVP.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 12 PM AZT // 3 PM ET

WISCONSIN

WHO:
Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02)
Opportunity Wisconsin
Protect Our Care Wisconsin
Climate Power
The Main Street Alliance
Working Families Party
Family Friendly Wisconsin
Committee to Protect Health Care

WHAT: Rep. Mark Pocan Town Hall

WHERE:  Cappella Performing Arts Center, 721 King St, La Crosse, WI 54601

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 5 PM CT // 6 PM ET

ashoup In News

Trump’s War on Health Care: Public Health Watch

“He’s the same Bobby Kennedy, 100%” – RFK Jr.’s extreme anti-vaccine beliefs reach the forefront of his leadership of HHS

Welcome to Public Health Watch, a weekly roundup from Protect Our Care tracking catastrophic activity as part of Donald Trump’s sweeping war on health care. From installing anti-vaccine zealot RFK Jr. as Secretary of HHS to empowering Elon Musk to make indiscriminate cuts to our public health infrastructure, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, Donald Trump is endangering the lives of millions of Americans. Protect Our Care’s Public Health Watch will shine a spotlight on the worst of the Trump/RFK/Musk war on vaccines, science and public health and serve as a resource for the press, public and advocacy groups to hold them accountable.

What’s Happening In Public Health?

Catastrophic Cuts Are Creating Chaos And Endangering Americans’ Health And Scientific Innovation

CNN: Internal Trump administration document reveals massive budget cut proposal for federal health agencies The Trump administration is formulating plans to cut roughly a third of the federal health budget, eliminate dozens of programs and vastly whittle down health agencies, according to an internal document reviewed by CNN. The preliminary memo, sent from White House budget officials to the Department of Health and Human Services, previews the administration’s plans to slash discretionary federal health spending and rework health agencies in the image of President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s “Make America Healthy Again” mandate. The document, dated April 10, could still be finalized with changes. If enacted as is, it could cut total federal health spending by tens of billions of dollars a year. It would also consolidate dozens of health programs and departments into the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), a new entity unveiled by Kennedy during mass layoffs earlier this month. The plan calls for steep cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which would see its budget reduced by more than 40% under the administration’s proposal. It also eliminates CDC’s global health center and programs focused on chronic disease prevention, and domestic HIV/AIDS prevention. While some of the agency’s work would be moved into new AHA centers, programs on gun violence, injury prevention, youth violence prevention, drowning, minority health and others would be eliminated entirely.

CBS: Beyond Ivy League, RFK Jr.’s NIH Slashed Science Funding Across States That Backed Trump The National Institutes of Health’s sweeping cuts of grants that fund scientific research are inflicting pain almost universally across the U.S., including in most states that backed President Trump in the 2024 election. A KFF Health News analysis underscores that the terminations are sparing no part of the country, politically or geographically. About 40% of organizations whose grants the NIH cut in its first month of slashing, which started Feb. 28, are in states Mr. Trump won in November. The Trump administration has singled out Ivy League universities including Columbia and Harvard for broad federal funding cuts. But the spending reductions at the NIH, the nation’s foremost source of funding for biomedical research, go much further: Of about 220 organizations that had grants terminated, at least 94 were public universities, including flagship state schools in places such as Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Nebraska, and Texas. The Trump administration has canceled hundreds of grants supporting research on topics such as vaccination; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and the health of LGBTQ+ populations. Some of the terminations are a result of Mr. Trump’s executive orders to abandon federal work on diversity and equity issues. Others followed the Senate confirmation of anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH. Many mirror the ambitions laid out in Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership,” the conservative playbook for Trump’s second term.

Washington Post: DOGE begins to freeze health-care payments for extra review The U.S. DOGE Service is putting new curbs on billions of dollars in federal health-care grants, requiring government officials to manually review and approve previously routine payments — and paralyzing grant awards to tens of thousands of organizations, according to 12 people familiar with the new arrangements. The effort, which DOGE has dubbed “Defend the Spend,” has left thousands of payments backed up, including funding for doctors’ and nurses’ salaries at federal health centers for the poor. Some grantees are waiting on payments they expected last week.

Wired: HHS Systems Are in Danger of Collapsing, Workers Say Much of the IT and cybersecurity infrastructure underpinning the US health system is in danger of a possible collapse following a purge of IT staff and leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), four current and former agency workers tell WIRED. This could put vast troves of public health data, including the sensitive health records of hundreds of millions of Americans, clinical trial data, and more, at risk of exposure. As a result of a reduction in force, or RIF, in the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), the sources say, staff who oversee and renew contracts for critical enterprise services are no longer there. The same staff oversaw hundreds of contractors, some of whom play a crucial role in keeping systems and data safe from cyberattacks. And a void of leadership means that efforts to draw attention to what the sources believe to be a looming catastrophe have allegedly been ignored.

New York Times: Leading Nutrition Scientist Departs N.I.H., Citing Censorship For the past two decades, Kevin Hall, a nutrition and metabolism scientist at the National Institutes of Health, has devoted his career to studying how people’s diets affect their health. He has led some of the world’s most important research on ultraprocessed foods, including one study that demonstrated, for the first time, that they caused people to overeat. This linked ultraprocessed foods to chronic conditions like Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Dr. Hall had planned to keep doing this work for many years — and hoped it might accelerate under the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has said that fixing the nation’s food supply is a priority. But now, at 54, he is retiring early. In an interview with The New York Times, Dr. Hall said his decision was driven in part by several instances in which federal officials censored his work. In one, he said he was barred from speaking freely with reporters about a study that might have been seen as contradicting Mr. Kennedy’s stance on the addictive nature of ultraprocessed foods, which include products like chicken nuggets, hot dogs, packaged cookies and chips. “We experienced what amounts to censorship and controlling of the reporting of our science,” Dr. Hall said, adding that he was worried that if he stayed, officials might also interfere with the design and execution of his studies. “That would make me hate my job every day,” he added.

Medpage Today: Medical Journals Get Letters From DOJ A federal prosecutor sent a letteropens in a new tab or window to a medical journal editor, probing whether the publication is “partisan” when it comes to “various scientific debates.” Edward R. Martin Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, sent a list of questions to CHEST Editor-in-Chief Peter Mazzone, MD, MPH, of the Cleveland Clinic, asking how the journal handles “misinformation” and “competing viewpoints,” among other things. MedPage Today has learned that at least two other journals have received similar letters. “It has been brought to my attention that more and more journals and publications like CHEST Journal are conceding that they are partisans in various scientific debates,” the letter stated. Martin’s letter asks five questions, including how the journal assesses its “responsibilities to protect the public from misinformation,” and how it “clearly articulate[s] to the public when you have certain viewpoints that are influenced by your ongoing relations with supporters, funders, advertisers, and others.” It also asks whether the journal accepts manuscripts from “competing viewpoints” as well as how it assesses the role of “funding organizations like the National Institutes of Health in the development of submitted articles.” Finally, it asks how the journal handles allegations that authors “may have misled their readers.” “I am also interested to know if publishers, journals, and organizations with which you work are adjusting their method of acceptance of competing viewpoints,” Martin wrote. “Are there new norms being developed and offered?”

Health Impacts:

Local Impacts:

Chaotic Firings and Re-Hirings:

Politico: The FDA fired its tobacco enforcers. Now it wants them back.
Stat: For an Air Force vet, an FDA layoff brings back symptoms of PTSD
Washington Post: Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards

Cruel and Destructive Policy Changes:

Axios: Trump administration moves to limit trans care in ACA plans
CBS: CDC weighing end to universal COVID vaccine recommendations
Erin in the Morning: HHS Launches Snitch Form to Report Gender Affirming Care Providers
Science: NSF halts grant awards while staff do second review

The FDA Is Being Dismantled – Stalling Drug Development And Leaving Us Vulnerable To Food-Borne Illness

CBS: FDA making plans to end its routine food safety inspections, sources say Senior Food and Drug Administration leaders are planning for cutbacks to the number of routine food and drug inspections conducted by the agency, multiple officials say, due to steep layoffs this week in support staff. Around 170 workers were cut from the FDA’s Office of Inspections and Investigations, according to two federal health officials who were not authorized to speak publicly. The Department of Health and Human Services has said layoffs ordered by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with some 10,000 workers let go from the department, would not directly cut FDA’s inspections staff. But in meetings among federal health officials, the agency’s remaining leaders have grappled with how to deal with major delays and disruptions caused by the loss of administrative and management staff who had supported the agency’s inspectors, according to two FDA officials.

Reuters: US FDA suspends food safety quality checks after staff cuts The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for its food testing laboratories as a result of staff cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to an internal email seen by Reuters. The proficiency testing program of the FDA’s Food Emergency Response Network is designed to ensure consistency and accuracy across the agency’s network of about 170 labs that test food for pathogens and contaminants to prevent food-borne illness.
NBC: A deadly E. coli outbreak hit 15 states, but the FDA chose not to publicize it An E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce ripped across 15 states in November, sickening dozens of people, including a 9-year-old boy in Indiana who nearly died of kidney failure and a 57-year-old Missouri woman who fell ill after attending a funeral lunch. One person died. But chances are you haven’t heard about it. The Food and Drug Administration indicated in February that it had closed the investigation without publicly detailing what had happened — or which companies were responsible for growing and processing the contaminated lettuce. According to an internal report obtained by NBC News, the FDA did not name the companies because no contaminated lettuce was left by the time investigators uncovered where the pathogen was coming from.

Wall Street Journal: Drug Development Is Slowing Down After Cuts at the FDA Biotech companies developing drugs for hard-to-treat diseases and other ailments are being forced to push back clinical trials and drug testing in the wake of mass layoffs at the Food and Drug Administration. Significant delays in the FDA’s core functions—such as approving amendments to clinical trials and guiding companies through processes for drug approval—are hindering the ability to develop drugs, say industry officials. Those setbacks are contributing to drugs taking longer to get through clinical trials and ultimately reach patients—and straining dollars for testing new possible treatments, say people familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg: FDA’s Baby Formula Research Gutted After RFK Jr. Safety Pledge US Food and Drug Administration researchers working on ways to make powdered infant formula safer were told earlier this month they’d be let go, just weeks after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to make the newborn staple healthier. Kennedy announced what he dubbed Operation Stork Speed last month to scrutinize infant formula ingredients and increase testing for heavy metals. Two weeks later, about 15 of 20 workers in the FDA’s Division of Food Processing Science and Technology in Illinois were told their jobs were being eliminated, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. The cuts included about six workers focused on reducing contamination in powdered infant formula. The research was started after infant deaths linked to a bacteria called Cronobacter sakazakii led to nationwide formula shortages in 2022, the person said. Abbott Laboratories shut down a Michigan factory after FDA inspectors found Cronobacter in the plant, leading to an interruption in the nation’s supply.

Additional FDA News:

RFK Jr. Is An Extreme MAGA Anti-Vaxxer Who’s Breaking His “Assurances” To Key Republicans To Get Confirmed And Mis-Managing HHS

Stat: ‘The same Bobby Kennedy’: How RFK Jr.’s vaccine criticism came rushing back Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed his past criticism of vaccines as he sought to become the nation’s health secretary. Now, just two months after winning confirmation, he’s frequently returning to rhetoric from his time as perhaps the most prominent vaccine critic in the U.S. In recent interviews and appearances, Kennedy has suggested without evidence that some vaccines are risky, argued that others don’t work at all, promoted fringe treatments for a vaccine-preventable disease, called the FDA a “sock puppet” for the industries it regulates, called the state of a key U.S. vaccine safety system “outrageous,” and moved to study — and, by September, potentially determine — the causes of rising rates of autism, which he has previously blamed on vaccines. To those who worked closely with him to foment skepticism of vaccines, his recent remarks sound familiar. “He’s the same Bobby Kennedy, 100%,” said Mary Holland, CEO of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine advocacy group Kennedy founded. “I think that he’s on the right track.”

Axios: RFK Jr.’s potential future targets HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine skepticism may be the hallmark of his public persona, but his and his followers’ questioning of the medical and pharmaceutical establishment goes much deeper. Why it matters: In recent weeks, it’s become pretty clear that Kennedy’s views haven’t changed all that much from his pre-HHS days. That could have implications that go far beyond vaccines and put him at even greater odds with the industries he’s charged with regulating, let alone mainstream science. If his past views hold up, antidepressants, ADHD medication and drugs that use mRNA technology — both those on the market and those under development — could end up as his next targets. In fact, some of his words and actions since being nominated and confirmed as the nation’s top health official suggest they’re already on his list.

Politico: ‘Whole generation of kids is damaged’: RFK Jr. takes MAHA on the road Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz took the Make America Healthy Again movement on the road Tuesday, reveling in their power to shape public health in an appearance riddled with false statements and dubious claims. Kennedy, the Health and Human Services secretary, spoke of the current “crisis” of chronic disease, autism and reminisced about his childhood years when rates of diseases such as diabetes were significantly lower. “This whole generation of kids is damaged by chronic disease,” he said, while advancing incorrect statistics on everything from vaccines to obesity rates.

Stat: RFK Jr. plans changes to vaccine injury reporting system Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that he plans to roll out changes to a vaccine monitoring system to automate and increase data collection as well as look for negative impacts of the shots. Reforming the current Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System has long been part of Kennedy’s agenda to raise questions about the safety of immunizations that are currently in use. While the general idea of improving the system is uncontroversial, Kennedy has exaggerated the extent to which side effects of vaccinations go unrecorded, according to researchers. “It’s outrageous that we don’t have a surveillance system that functions,” he said at a Make America Healthy Again event in Indiana, noting that the agency would add datasets to study the effects of vaccinations. “We’re going to find out what contribution vaccines and everything else — mold, [electromagnetic fields], food, all of these other exposures [that] began in the late 1980s — which one of those are the culprits? I suspect we’re going to see that there’s a lot of culprits, but we need to know.”

USA Today: RFK Jr. claims ‘leaky’ measles vaccine wanes over time. Scientists say he’s wrong. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the measles vaccine is “leaky” because its effectiveness wanes over time, something medical experts dispute. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who now oversees the nation’s federal health agencies, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doing a “very good job” of controlling the measles outbreak that has infected more than 700 Americans in 25 states as of April 10. But Kennedy suggested the vaccine effectiveness wanes at a rate of nearly 5% a year – an assertion not backed by scientists

Associated Press: Video shows doctor with measles treating kids. RFK Jr later praised him as an ‘extraordinary’ healer A Texas doctor who has been treating children in a measles outbreak was shown on video with a measles rash on his face in a clinic a week before Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met him and praised him as an “extraordinary” healer. Dr. Ben Edwards appeared in the video posted March 31 by the anti-vaccine group Kennedy once led, Children’s Health Defense. In it, Edwards appears wearing scrubs and talking with parents and children in a makeshift clinic he set up in Seminole, Texas, ground zero of the outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people and killed three, including two children. Edwards is asked whether he had measles, and he responded, “Yes,” then said his infection started the day before the video was recorded.

Other MAHA Activities:

The New Republic: Anti-Vax Doctor Praised by RFK Jr. Pushes Wild Theory About Measles
Washington Post: White House embraces lab leak as ‘true’ pandemic origin, axes covid website

RFK’s Comments About Autism Draw Widespread Condemnation And Calls For His Resignation

New York Times: Kennedy Calls Autism ‘Preventable,’ Drawing Ire From Researchers In remarks laced with scientific inaccuracies, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said on Wednesday that autism was preventable while directly contradicting researchers within his own agency on a primary driver behind rising rates of the condition in young children. Mr. Kennedy made his comments at a news conference, responding to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that rates of autism had increased to one in 31 among 8-year-olds, continuing a long-running trend. Blaming environmental risk factors for the uptick, he accused the media and the public of succumbing to a “myth of epidemic denial” when it came to autism. He also called research into the genetic factors that scientists say play a vital role in whether a child will develop autism “a dead end.” “Genes don’t cause epidemics,” he said. “You need an environmental toxin.”

CNN: Many in the autism community say RFK Jr. is pushing harmful and regressive rhetoric about who they are At his first news conference as head of HHS, Kennedy said this week that the rising rate of autism in the country is an “individual tragedy” and “catastrophic for our country.” A new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that autism rates in 8-year-olds in the US rose from 1 in 36 in 2020 to 1 in 31 in 2022. The increase continues a long-term trend that experts have largely attributed to better understanding of and screening for the condition. But Kennedy has rejected that concept, instead pushing the idea that autism is “preventable” and part of a “chronic disease epidemic” that “destroys” children and families. “These are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted,” Kennedy said Wednesday. People with autism, their families and advocates were quick to refute Kennedy’s comments.

The Daily Beast: RFK Jr. Scrambles to Defuse Outrage Over His Autism Claims as Elizabeth Warren Calls for Resignation Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in full damage-control mode after causing outrage with his comments about autism during his first official press briefing as health secretary. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, attempted to dial back the controversy in a sit-down Thursday night with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. He had triggered a firestorm by claiming that people with autism—a neurodevelopmental disorder—will never play baseball, go out on dates, pay taxes, write poems, or hold down a job. He also described autism as a “preventable disease” caused by a mysterious environmental toxin. Kennedy has long claimed a link between vaccines and autism. The Health and Human Services Department’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reportedly conducting a study examining potential links between vaccines and autism—despite the theory having been thoroughly debunked by extensive scientific research. “You actually got emotional yesterday while talking about children suffering from [autism],” Hannity said. “You said they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never pay taxes… people mistook that. Then you said they’ll never play baseball… they’ll never go out on a date, they’ll never be able to live unassisted lives.” Kennedy attempted to clarify that he wasn’t referring to all people with diagnosed with autism, but only to those who are “nonverbal”, meaning that they do not communicate using spoken language.

Stat: RFK Jr. promises autism answers by September. Prominent researchers and advocates have heard little Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the country will soon know what is causing a rise in autism rates, but there is little sign he has a team in place yet. Nearly two dozen prominent voices from mainstream autism research and in the anti-vaccine world said they have not been approached by Kennedy, and have no details about the proposed studies. On Wednesday, the health secretary appeared at a press conference alongside Walter Zahorodny, director of a New Jersey autism surveillance study. They highlighted a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that suggests autism prevalence rose to 1 in 31 among 8-year-olds — a benchmark Kennedy used to justify more research. “This is part of an unrelenting upward trend,” Kennedy said at the event, during which he called autism a preventable disease. “Within three weeks, probably — we’re hoping two weeks — we’re going to announce a series of new studies to identify precisely what environmental toxins are causing it. This has not been done before, and we’re going to do it in a thorough and precise way. And we’re going to get back to the American people with an answer very, very quickly.” Kennedy said the studies would look at mold, pesticides, food, air, water, and medicines, with a particular focus on exposures that increased during the late 1980s (around when the U.S. saw a large uptick in autism diagnoses). Parental age and health status would also be studied, he said. The studies will supposedly involve university researchers around the world and arrive at “some of the answers” by September. But even Zahorodny, who was featured at the press conference, had no clue about Kennedy’s new autism research initiatives. “I’d like to learn about them, too. Before Monday, I never had contact with HHS or Mr. Kennedy,” Zahorodny told STAT before the conference. Other researchers in the world of autism — who study drivers, risk factors, and predictors of the disorder — responded similarly when asked by STAT if they were involved in the project. Experts at 10 specialized autism research groups across the country said they had not been approached by HHS officials about it. Even members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which harmonizes and guides autism research across federal health agencies, knew nothing about Kennedy’s project.

Washington Post: Autism rate rises in new CDC report that contradicts RFK Jr. on cause One in 31 8-year-olds had autism in U.S. communities examined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a small increase from previous years, according to a report released Tuesday. The study comes as autism is attracting intense interest from President Donald Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who have made the condition a priority for the new administration. Kennedy first shared the central finding of the biennial surveillance report in a Cabinet meeting last week, during which he vowed to discover the causes of the condition and eliminate “those exposures.” For years, Kennedy has linked the rising prevalence of autism to vaccines, despite voluminous scientific research that has debunked that claim. In a statement reacting to the report Tuesday, Kennedy said the “autism epidemic is running rampant.” Autism is a spectrum of neurological conditions that affect how people communicate, behave and interact with others. The Trump administration is launching a research program to investigate its causes, but a body of research already demonstrates the condition is primarily genetic and influenced by environmental factors that are still under investigation. Responding to Kennedy in the Cabinet meeting, Trump described the 1-in-31 figure, compared with 1-in-36 in the previous report, as a “horrible statistic.” He posited that there’s “something artificial out there that’s doing this.” Kennedy later blamed the rising autism prevalence on “an environmental toxin.” The CDC report undercuts claims by Kennedy and Trump, instead attributing the recent increase to better screening. The report used 2022 data to examine cohorts of 4-year-old and 8-year-old children in 16 communities. It focused on the prevalence of autism among 8-year-olds, who are more likely to have been diagnosed by that age, using 4-year-old children as a measure of early detection.

More fallout from RFK Jr.’s autism speech:

Axios: People with autism seek dignity where RFK seeks a cure
The Independent: While RFK Jr. warns of an ‘autism epidemic’, his department cut research money to reduce autistic suicides
Mother Jones: RFK Jr. Is Using a New Study on Autism Rates to Push His Anti-Vaccine Agenda
Mother Jones: RFK Jr. Knows Amazingly Little About Autism
Washington Post: RFK Jr. said autistic people don’t work or play sports. They say he’s wrong.

Disastrous, Dangerous Appointments

The New Republic: Trump’s New Medicaid Chief Has Boneheaded Idea to Lower Drug Costs Dr. Mehmet Oz made a particularly useless comment Friday, after being sworn in as Donald Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “It is your patriotic duty, I’ll say it again, the patriotic duty of all Americans to take care of themselves because it is important for serving in the military, but it is also important because healthy people don’t consume health care resources,” Oz said during a ceremony at the White House. “The best way to reduce drug spending is to use less drugs ’cause you don’t need them, ’cause you’re healthy. And it feels a lot better, as well.”

Public Health Threats

Associated Press: Michigan and Pennsylvania join six other states with measles outbreaks. Here’s what to know The U.S. has 800 cases of measles nationwide as of Friday, and two more states identified outbreaks this week. Texas is driving the high numbers, with an outbreak centered in West Texas that started nearly three months ago and is up to 597 cases. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses near the epicenter in Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.

CBS: Large number of measles cases being missed, CDC says A large number of measles cases are being missed by health authorities, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Tuesday, as the agency is now struggling to keep up with requests for support from states responding to outbreaks. “We do believe that there’s quite a large amount of cases that are not reported and underreported,” said Dr. David Sugerman, senior scientist for the CDC’s measles response this year. Sugerman’s remarks, at a meeting Tuesday of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, mark the first time that a CDC official has been made available by the Trump administration to field questions publicly about the record measles outbreak this year.

CBS: CDC scraps plan to help Texas schools curb measles over layoffs, employee says The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scrapped a plan to offer help curbing measles in Texas schools after some staff working on the agency’s response to this year’s record outbreak of the virus were warned they could face layoffs, an agency employee said. CDC officials had initially weighed expanding a service they had been offering to hospitals in Texas — onsite assessments to root out how errors in ventilation and air filtration could be enabling spread of the virus – to other kinds of facilities like schools as well. “Being on the ground allows us to actually look at the filters that are in place, look at the HVAC systems, how they’re set up, how they’re being used, how they’re being monitored. And after seeing what we did, I’m glad we did,” Dylan Neu, who had led the CDC’s ventilation assessments in Texas, told CBS News. Neu is a biomedical engineer for the CDC’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, which was largely eliminated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first wave of layoffs earlier this month.

Politico: CDC is ‘scraping’ to find resources to help Texas with measles, official says A top CDC scientist said the agency is scrambling to pull together the means to support states amid the ongoing measles outbreak. “We are scraping to find the resources and personnel needed to provide support to Texas and other jurisdictions,” Dr. David Sugerman, a senior scientist in the Division of Viral Diseases, said today at a virtual meeting of the agency’s panel of outside vaccine advisers. “There are funding limitations, in light of Covid-19 funding dissipating.”

CBS: As bird flu hits cattle herds in U.S., scientists say these H5N1 factors worry them most As the H5N1 bird flu virus mutates and rapidly spreads through American cattle herds — a first for the U.S. — doctors and veterinarians are fearful that if the virus is left unchecked, it could spiral into a possible pandemic Avian influenza is constantly changing. Every new infection increases the odds bird flu could potentially become more deadly or easily transmissible between humans, infectious disease expert Dr. Kamran Khan warns. Today, the virus does not spread person to person, but Khan warns that could change. His company BlueDot was among the first to flag the virus in China that led to the COVID pandemic. Khan said bird flu is just as concerning. Khan said he wants people to know “this is a very serious threat to humanity” and that the longer bird flu is left to spread, “the greater the risks are going to be.” “We are really at risk of this virus evolving into one that has pandemic potential,” Khan said. “And the reality is none of us know whether this is next week, or next year, or never. I don’t think it’s never. But it may be here far sooner than any of us would like.”

Public Health Threats Around The World:

Opinion and Commentary

Bloomberg (Editorial): RFK Jr. Needs to Explain Himself
Bloomberg (Lisa Jarvis): RFK Jr.’s Autism ‘Investigation’ Reflects His Ignorance
Boston Globe (Jon Garelick): RFK Jr., America’s Lysenko
MSNBC (Eric Garcia): I’m autistic, and I work. And I made sure to let RFK Jr. know it.
New York: What It’s Like to Be a Vaccine Researcher in Trump’s America
Stat (Logan Beyer): The NIH called my health equity research ‘antithetical to scientific inquiry’
Stat (Meghan F. Davis, Kirsten Koehler, Judy Bass, Julie Sorensen, and Gurumurthy Ramachandran): The CDC’s critical occupational safety institute has been virtually wiped out
Stat (Alison Barkoff, Kathy Greenlee, Sharon Lewis, and Henry Claypool): Dismantling the one U.S. agency focused on older adults, people with disabilities is startlingly inefficient
Wall Street Journal (Nicole Saphier): The Madness in RFK Jr.’s Autism Method

ashoup In News

THIS WEEK: Protect Our Care Holds Events Across The Nation, Blasting Republicans for Cutting Medicaid and Putting Health Care for Millions in Jeopardy

***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR APRIL 21 – 25, 2025***

Protect Our Care Holds Events In Alaska, Arizona, California, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin

This week, Protect Our Care is hosting 18 events in 11 states, headlined by Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Representatives Gwen Moore (WI-04), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Mark Pocan (WI-02), and George Latimer (NY-16), and former Representative Gabby Giffords to call on Republicans to put an end to their war on health care, including any cuts to Medicaid in the upcoming budget. Protect Our Care is also joining events alongside SEIU to discuss the importance of Medicaid to patients, workers, and communities.

April is Medicaid Awareness Month, and Protect Our Care is continuing its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign with theme weeks to underscore the importance of Medicaid across the country. Alongside partners, lawmakers, and other advocates, Protect Our Care is working to defend Medicaid from the Republican-led plan to slash funding to pay for another round of tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations.

MONDAY

ARIZONA

WHO:
Former Representative Gabby Giffords, GIFFORDS Co-Founder
Mini Timmaraju, Reproductive Freedom for All, President and CEO
Arizona State Senator Priya Sundareshan
Dr. Lawrence DeLuca, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Arizona, Emergency and Critical Care Physician
Dr. Tori Fewell, Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona/Banner and Arizona Section, Chair of the American College of OB/GYN

WHAT: Medicaid Roundtable

WHERE:  Location available upon RSVP

WHEN: Monday, April 21, 2025 at 11 AM AZT // 2 PM ET

CALIFORNIA

WHO:
SEIU
California health care advocates

WHAT: Medicaid Rally in Representative Ken Calvert’s District (CA-41)

WHERE:  73710 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA

RSVP: Event Sign-Up

WHEN: Monday, April 21, 2025 at 11:30 AM PST // 2:30 PM ET

ALASKA

WHO:
Stand Up Alaska
SEIU 775
Alaska Caregivers Union
Amber Lee, Protect Our Care Alaska

WHAT: Petition Delivery

WHERE: Representative Nick Begich’s Anchorage office, 1016 W Sixth Ave, Suite #406, Anchorage

WHEN: Monday, April 21, 2025 at 12 PM AKT // 4 PM ET

NEW YORK

WHO:
Senator Peter Welch (D-VT)
Representative Paul Tonko (NY-20)

WHAT: Medicaid Defense Event

WHERE:  Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post #125, 116 Boynton Avenue, Plattsburgh, NY

RSVP: Contact Elizabeth St. Onge at 202-841-4917

WHEN: Monday, April 21, 2025 at 5:30 PM ET

TUESDAY

NEW YORK

WHO:
Representative George Latimer (NY-16)
New York health care advocates

WHAT: Medicaid Awareness Month Event

WHERE:  White Plains Adult Community Center, 65 Mitchell Place, White Plains, NY 10601

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 11:45 AM ET

CALIFORNIA

WHO:
SEIU
California health care advocates

WHAT: Medicaid Rally in Representative Young Kim’s District (CA-40)

WHERE:  180 N. Riverview Drive, Anaheim, CA

RSVP: Event Sign-Up

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 11:30 AM PST // 2:30 PM ET

IOWA

WHO:
Antonia Rivera, Progress Iowa
Sue Dinsdale, Iowa Citizen Action Network
Gabriela Fuentes, Planned Parenthood
Randy Dillon from Fairfield Iowa
Jill Kordick, Health care administration, Warren County
Elizabeth Feldman

WHAT: Congresswoman Miller-Meeks Office Visit

WHERE:  Rep. Miller-Meeks’ Indianola Office, 126 N Howard St, Indianola, Iowa 50125

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 2 PM CT // 3 PM ET

ARIZONA

WHO:
Senator Ruben Gallego
Healthcare Rising Arizona (SEIU)
Reproductive Freedom for All
Morgan Finkelstein, POC Arizona

WHAT: “Save Medicaid Town Hall”

WHERE:  TBA

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 12 PM AZT // 3 PM ET

WISCONSIN

WHAT: Rep. Mark Pocan Town Hall

WHERE:  Cappella Performing Arts Center, 721 King St, La Crosse, WI 54601

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 5 PM CT // 6 PM ET

WEDNESDAY

WISCONSIN

WHO:
Representative Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Rachel Crites
Felicia Clayborne
Chamomile Stevens
Terri Hart-Ellis
Lisa Orvis
Joe Zepecki, Protect Our Care Wisconsin

WHAT: Medicaid Awareness Month Event

WHERE:  Independence First, 540 S 1st St, Milwaukee, WI 53204

WHEN: Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 10 AM CT // 11 AM ET

THURSDAY

WEST VIRGINIA

WHAT: Medicaid Awareness Month Event

WHERE:  Milan Puskar Health Right, 341 Spruce Street, Morgantown, WV 26505

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 11 AM ET

MAINE

WHO:
State Representative Drew Gattine
Anne Woloson, Consumers for Affordable Health Care
Toby McGrath, Protect Our Care Maine
Maine Medical Association

WHAT: Medicaid Awareness Month Event

WHERE:  Maine State House Welcome Center, Augusta, ME

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 12 PM ET

NORTH CAROLINA

WHO:
State Representative Sarah Crawford
Eric Schneidewind, Former AARP National President
Little Lobbyists
Vanessa Watson, Protect Our Care North Carolina

WHAT: Medicaid Defense Event

WHERE:  301 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 2 PM ET

CALIFORNIA

WHO:
SEIU
California health care advocates

WHAT: Medicaid Rally in David Valadao’s District (CA-22)

WHERE:  2700 M Street, Bakersfield, CA

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 11:30 AM PT // 2:30 PM ET

IOWA

WHO:
Dr Andrea Greiner
Mandi Remington
Pat Kearns
Evelyn Irving
Mike Owen
Ed Esbeck

WHAT: Medicaid Town Hall

WHERE:  Gerdin Conference Center, 520 W Cherry Street, North Liberty

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 6 PM CT // 7 PM ET

ARIZONA

WHO:
Morgan Finkelstein, Protect Our Care Arizona

WHAT: Medicaid Awareness Month Event

WHERE:  Arizona State Capitol, Phoenix, AZ

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 2 PM AZT // 5 PM ET

MINNESOTA

WHO:
TBA
Trent Andersen, Protect Our Care Minnesota

WHAT: Medicaid Awareness Month Event

WHERE:  TBA

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at TBA

PENNSYLVANIA

WHO:
TBA
Michael Berman, Protect Our Care Pennsylvania

WHAT: Medicaid Awareness Month Event

WHERE:  TBA

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at TBA

News

IN THE STATES: Over Recess, Democratic Lawmakers, Advocates Join Events Across the Nation to Tell Republicans “Hands Off Medicaid”

ALASKA

ARIZONA

CALIFORNIA

IOWA

MAINE

MINNESOTA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW YORK

NORTH CAROLINA

PENNSYLVANIA

VIRGINIA

WEST VIRGINIA

WISCONSIN

NEW: Protect Our Care Hosts Day of Action Telling Republicans “Hands Off Medicaid”

ROUNDUP: Republican Plans to Slash Medicaid and Sell Americans Out to the Rich

NEW REPORT: Trump, Musk, and RFK Jr.’s Destruction of HHS Will Hurt Millions of Americans

New Polling Shows Widespread Popularity of Expanding Medicare Drug Negotiations

HEADLINES: SCOTUS Hears Arguments In Kennedy v. Braidwood, The Case That Puts Free Preventative Care At Risk

NEW: District-Level Fact Sheets Expose House Republicans’ Hypocrisy As They Move to Slash Medicaid

TODAY: Protect Our Care Holds Events Across the Nation Headlined By Senator Gallego and Reps. Pocan and Latimer

Trump’s War on Health Care: Public Health Watch

THIS WEEK: Protect Our Care Holds Events Across The Nation, Blasting Republicans for Cutting Medicaid and Putting Health Care for Millions in Jeopardy

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