Health Announce: Protecting Medicaid Update & Action

05/27/25

It cannot be overstated how disastrous the reconciliation bill will be to Medicaid, SNAP, and state budgets overall- causing ripple effects that will destabilize local economies and punish all but the wealthiest Americans. The House Rules Committee began meeting about the bill this morning, with the hope of passing the bill out of committee and bringing it to the House floor for a vote as soon as later today. You can watch the Rules Committee live here. 

With a potential floor vote this week, we need to take action NOW!

You can make a difference: make calls to progressive and independent voters in key congressional districts in other states and ask them to tell their Congress Member “No Cuts to Medicaid!”

Health Care for All and SEIU are holding phone banks over the next couple of weeks:

  • TONIGHT, May 21st, from 5pm-11pm: join whenever and for however long you can! Register here.
  • TOMORROW, May 22nd, from 5pm - 11pm: Register here.

Next week: Wednesday, May 28th and Thursday, May 29th from 5pm - 11pm. Register here. 

Here’s how this works, as one volunteer explained:

After I registered, I got an email and a link. I logged onto the zoom call where they explained the process and answered my questions. Then I clicked on another link to the autodialer that would put me through to a voter in another state, with the caller ID showing a local number and not my number. Once a person answered, I confirmed who I was talking to, and used a script about why I was calling and asked a few questions on my screen. Basically I said, “Hi! I’m a volunteer with SEIU, Service Employees International Union, and I’m calling to ask you to call your Representative and tell them to protect Medicaid. No cuts to Medicaid! If you are willing to help, I can patch you through to your Congress Member right now!”

Most of the people I called said, “Yes! Patch me through!” And that was it. Sometimes, the person said, “My representative is a Republican and my call won’t make a difference.” I replied, “GOP offices track the number of calls they get on an issue. Your call does matter!” There were some wrong numbers, and some people who were busy or hung up, but overall it was easy. I decided when I was ready for the next call, and I could go back to the zoom call for advice if needed or just to take a break. It was fun and I felt I was really making a difference.”

Your call matters.

House Republicans are working behind closed doors and moving quickly to hide the real impacts of their policies. They are misleading voters by saying their policies only address waste, fraud, and abuse. But the Reconciliation Bill proposes changes that would take coverage away. As Governor Healey told WBUR last week, "If we don't [speak up]..., people are going to die, kids are going to die, infants are going to die." Here are the real effects of the GOP proposals:

  • Boost the incomes of the richest 10% of Americans while lowering the incomes of the lowest 10%. (Congressional Budget Office (CBO) letter)
  • Leave about 7.6 million people uninsured by 2034 (CBO Preliminary Estimate)
  • Increase the federal deficit by $2.3 trillion over a decade. This would trigger automatic spending cuts in Medicare and other programs without congressional action (CBO letter);
  • Force states to spend an additional $78 billion to account for cuts in federal funding for SNAP and Medicaid, and other harmful policies contained in the bill (CBO report)