Medicaid recipients demand that Congress protect healthcare program

Medicaid recipients from 28 states marched on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to call on Congress to protect the health insurance program – a vital lifeline for millions of Americans – from Donald Trump and his Republican allies.

About 130 protesters from across the US held a rally outside the US Capitol building holding signs that said “Protect our lifelines, protect Medicaid and Snap” and “Benefits over billionaires”.

Medicaid is the largest healthcare program in the US, providing free or low-cost insurance for low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly people and people with disabilities. Snap provides crucial food benefits to low-income families.

As Republicans in the House of Representatives plan to move forward with Trump’s tax cuts, Democrats and public health advocates say their goal will be hard to reach without cutting deeply into Medicaid and Snap.

Organisers said Medicaid recipients would be holding 90 meetings with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress or their staff on Tuesday.

Cynthia Travieso, 42, from Rockland county, New York, said: “We have mothers here who have said that, without essential care from Medicaid, their grown children would lose the ability to live independently. We have a person here whose sister is in an assisted facility; they would lose their ability to actually live.”

She added: “People don’t realise that Medicaid is more than just the insurance that you have. It actually helps funds our local hospitals and so we’re going to lose hospitals near us without Medicaid.”

Travieso condemned Trump and Republicans for a “heartless” attitude. “Their approach lacks focus on the people that actually elected them into power and it’s focusing on the select few that are pulling strings behind the scenes. Their approach is extremely dangerous and we want to see something different happen from what they’re doing right now.”

Individuals at the rally shared personal experiences highlighting how Medicaid allowed them to manage chronic and life-threatening conditions, maintain their independence, and have hope for the future.

Eliza Brader, from Bloomington, Indiana, who had a spinal injury that was misdiagnosed for two years, said: “I am proud to say that Indiana Medicaid saved my life.”

Bishop Christopher Lee of Ohio emphasised the broad impact of potential cuts, stating: “If Medicaid and Snap are cut, it would be a major, major blow to our children, to our seniors and to our families.

“We live in a community that’s a food desert, and many of those families depend on Snap benefits, and they depend on Medicaid to make ends meet and to stay healthy. Medicaid assists two out of every five children, not to mention Medicaid supports our hospitals to expand help to more people who need it. No matter where they live, cutting these benefits will devastate our people.”

Lee led the gathering in chants of “We will fight! We will win! We will fight! We will win!”

Camilla Hudson, 60, from Chicago said in an interview that Medicaid allows her to “confront head-on” a rare autoimmune condition and access a drug that has a retail pharmacy cost of $20,000-plus a month.

If it were cut off, she said, “honestly I don’t even know the magnitude. I know that I could go back to receiving routine healthcare but you lose continuity of care …

“Take your physical health out of it – the uncertainty, the fear, the pain. I deal with debilitating chronic pain with all of these diseases and without therapy, without prescription drug coverage to cover everything and manage it, it’s terrifying … I would have to leave the US because I will die here.”

Hudson accused Trump and his Republican allies of “completely lacking in humanity”.

Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, told reporters that Trump last week gave him an “unequivocal” promise that Medicaid benefits would not be slashed.

But this would mean House Republicans would have to change their plans, as their conference is looking for $2tn in spending cuts, in part by overhauling Medicaid and Snap.

The House minority leader, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, told MSNBC over the weekend: “Children will be devastated. Women will be devastated. Older Americans will be devastated. Everyday Americans with disabilities are going to be devastated. Hospitals and nursing homes and community health clinics are going to close.”