Nurses fight to save Medicaid

RNs march in Washington, D.C., protest at members of Congress’ offices 

By Lucy Diavolo and Michelle Morris

National Nurse magazine - Jan | Feb | March 2025 Issue

These past months, National Nurses United (NNU) nurses have been busy fighting to stop $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid through actions and education. On March 12, NNU joined Mobilize to Save Our Health Care to march in Washington, D.C. The following day, NNU hosted an educational webinar about fighting back against massive Medicaid cuts. Speakers included NNU President Cathy Kennedy, RN, and AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler, as well as Vinay Krishnan, national field organizer for Popular Democracy, and Jamila Headley, executive director of Be A Hero, two groups also involved with the march.

Longtime champions of health care as a human right and Medicare for All, NNU nurses say funding for programs like Medicaid and Medicare is critical to patient care across the country and that budget cuts are a direct attack on patients nationwide. According to 2023 data, more than one in five people in the U.S. had health care coverage funded by Medicaid that year. In states like California, New York, West Virginia, and Louisiana, more than one in four people were covered under Medicaid in 2023.

“Medicaid protects tens of millions of patients, and nurses care for them every day. Taking away their health care is deadly,” said Nancy Hagans, RN and NNU president. “This is an attack on children, on seniors, on patients who are pregnant or have disabilities — it is an attack on millions of our patients. We need to expand health care, not destroy it.”

“This is a knife in the back for people across the country, from the biggest city to the quietest backroad,” said NNU Vice President Diane McClure, RN, who spoke at the rally in Washington, D.C. “Cuts across HHS will defund hospitals and shut down care facilities. Medicaid keeps people alive, including through its recent expansion. Gutting one of the largest sources of health care funding in the country is going to sicken and kill our patients.”

On March 20, union nurses gathered at the district offices of five members of Congress: Representative David Valadao’s office in Bakersfield, California; Senator Collins’ office in Portland, Maine; Representative Mark Amodei’s office in Reno, Nevada; Senator Thom Tillis’ office in Hendersonville, North Carolina; and Senator John Cornyn’s office in Austin, Texas, to protest proposed Medicaid cuts that will devastate health care services in the region. Along with community organizations and Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) patients, nurse members of NNU affiliates at California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) presented checks made out to the "Billionaire Class” paid for by “Working People” totaling the amount of Medicaid funding at risk in their district or state if they vote to gut Medicaid to fund tax cuts for billionaires.

In Bakersfield, nurses presented a check for $4.7 billion — the amount of Medicaid funding in California’s 22nd Congressional district. In Portland, nurses presented a check totaling $4.2 billion — the amount of Medicaid funding in Maine, covering a quarter of the state’s population. In Reno, RNs presented a check for $1.1 billion, the amount of Medicaid funding in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional district. In North Carolina, the check was for $19.4 billion, representing 2.8 million constituents — more than a quarter of the state — who receive lifesaving health care access provided by NC Medicaid. In Austin, nurses presented a check of $57.3 billion, representing 4.1 million constituents – nearly 14 percent of Texas’ population who get care provided by Medicaid and CHIP.

“As nurses, we see firsthand how vital Medicaid is for our patients,” said Molly Zenker, RN in the float pool at HCA Mission Hospital. “Cutting Medicaid would be devastating for working families. If you vote to cut Medicaid, you’re not saving money – you’re handing a check to billionaires at the expense of your constituents’ health. We challenge Senator Tillis to stand with patients, not greed.”

“It is the moral choice to ensure that all Texans have access to the care they so desperately need, which is why we are calling on Senator Cornyn to preserve health care funding,” says Monica Gonzalez, RN at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin. “This check represents the obscene losses our communities would face if Sen. Cornyn prioritizes funding tax cuts for billionaires over patient care. As nurses, we know the devastating consequences of losing this funding. His constituents deserve care and compassion far more than the billionaires deserve another cent in tax cuts!”

Nurses are also defending U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Veterans Health Administration from massive cuts, where the Trump administration has gutted the workforces. In addition to the tens of millions of people covered under Medicaid and CHIP, HHS agencies include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and National Institutes of Health (NIH). These agencies provide essential research, guidance, and regulation that nurses and health care workers rely on for both patient care and their own health and safety. Moreover, tens of thousands of nurses are employed by the VA, the nation’s largest public sector health care system, which is also facing layoffs of 80,000 workers.