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Trump’s War on Health Care: Public Health Watch

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

CBS: “When is cancer political?” Medical researchers, patients decry Trump admin’s layoffs, budget cuts  “They might easily be mistaken for Congressional staffers, reluctant to face the day, but these are among the most accomplished cancer specialists in the country, meeting with Representatives, Senators and staff. Among them: Dr. Elizabeth Jaffee, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, from up the road in Baltimore; and Dr. George Weiner, a cancer specialist in Iowa for more than 35 years, who has flown in frequently to lobby Congress for more research funds. Lobbying for cancer research, he says, used to be like pushing on an open door. “Most of the time when I’ve come, I’ve met with Democrats and Republicans, and we talked about the bipartisan support for cancer research,” Weiner said. “This is the first time that I felt there was an existential crisis in our ability to make the type of progress that I see in front of us.” These days, the conversation is all about thousands of layoffs … delays in research … massive budget cuts – close to a 40% proposed cut in funding for the National Cancer Institute.

New York Times: N.I.H. Memo Pauses Cancellations of Medical Research Grants In the wake of two court rulings taking issue with the axing of medical research grants by the Trump administration, a senior official at the National Institutes of Health has directed agency staff members not to cancel any additional research projects, at least for now. The directive, in an internal memo sent Tuesday and reviewed by The New York Times, is a retreat by the agency. Since President Trump’s return to office, N.I.H. has slashed funding for medical research by ending hundreds of awards, part of his administration’s broader effort to end the use of public money on diversity issues and the health of sexual and gender minority groups. It was not clear how long the directive would hold.

NPR: ‘Where’s our money?’ CDC grant funding is moving so slowly layoffs are happening Health departments around the country have noticed there’s something strange happening with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: It’s not showing up on schedule and there’s been no communication about why. The federal public health agency doles out most of the money it receives from Congress to state and local health departments, which then contract with local organizations. That’s how public health work gets funded in the U.S. According to two CDC staff members with knowledge of the agency’s budget, the CDC has yet to receive its full funding for the 2025 fiscal year. NPR agreed not to name the staff members because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Both CDC staffers say the funding is now months late, and it will soon be too late to disperse the agency’s grants that local health departments are waiting on. In the interim, the CDC has been operating with just 30-days of funding at a time. The staffers say this amounts to impounding the agency’s funding. One of them called it “rescission by inertia.”

Stat: States anxiously wait to find out if cancer tracking and prevention funding from CDC will be renewed State workers who for decades have been pivotal in identifying U.S. cancer trends, curbing new cases, and improving screening fear their federally funded programs could be deeply cut or eliminated altogether come July.  By next week, state and local programs that work on cancer are supposed to find out if their annual allocations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be renewed. Typically, they would’ve heard by now. But several officials who run those registries told STAT they are bracing for cuts, given that Health and Human Services Department budget proposals thus far reflect a turn away from chronic disease programs at the CDC — and the possible elimination of longstanding cancer prevention work.  The pot of money, which was appropriated by Congress for work through September, also covers national programs that offer breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment for poor Americans, and funds cancer control efforts at the state level. Advocates describe a dire situation if the funding is killed.

Axios: Scoop: Trump admin cuts contracts with scientific publishing giant The Trump administration has terminated millions worth of funding for Springer Nature, a German-owned scientific publishing giant that has long received payments for subscriptions from National Institutes of Health and other agencies, Axios has learned. Why it matters: President Trump and MAGA have made a push to target academic institutions as well as research organizations perceived to be the source of so-called “woke” ideology, including DEI and gender-affirming care policies, by withholding federal funding and in some cases initiating legal action. State of play: Earlier this year, the Justice Department sent a letter to a Springer publication questioning its editorial practices and accusing the publishing house of acting as a partisan in scientific debates, as well as wrongfully advocating for positions, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Health Impacts:

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

New York Times: Kennedy’s New Advisers Rescind Recommendations for Some Flu Vaccines An advisory panel recently appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted on Thursday to walk back longstanding recommendations for flu vaccines containing an ingredient that the anti-vaccine movement has falsely linked to autism. The vote signaled a powerful shift in the way federal officials approach vaccines, putting into action Mr. Kennedy’s deep skepticism about their safety and delivering the first blows to a scientific process that for decades has provided effective vaccines to Americans. Mr. Kennedy fired all 17 experts on the panel about two weeks ago, and then appointed eight new members, at least half of whom have expressed skepticism about some vaccines. “We came to this meeting with no predetermined ideas, and will make judgments as if we are treating for our own families,” the panelists said in a statement. To critics, the two-day meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices offered the clearest signs yet that the Trump administration intends to unravel the system that has long guided clinical decisions about vaccination.

  • CNN: Presentation for CDC advisers appears to cite nonexistent study to support claims about risk of vaccine preservative A presentation slated to be shared at this week’s meeting of vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that a study in animals suggested that use of the vaccine preservative thimerosal can have “long-term consequences in the brain.” But the study doesn’t appear to exist. Lyn Redwood, a former leader of Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group that lists US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a founder, is scheduled to give the presentation Thursday at a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The slides, posted online Tuesday, cite a 2008 study in the journal Neurotoxicology by “Berman RF, et al,” called “Low-level neonatal thimerosal exposure: Long-term consequences in the brain.” The presentation claimed that results from a study in newborn rats suggest long-term “neuroimmune effects” from the vaccine preservative. The citation appears to refer to Dr. Robert F. Berman, a professor emeritus at the University of California Davis, whose research has focused on brain injury and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, “I don’t have a publication in Neurotoxicology by that title,” Berman told CNN. “The reference in the slide set, as far as I know – at least with me as a coauthor – does not exist.”

Politico: RFK Jr. says US won’t donate to global vaccine effort The United States won’t contribute anymore to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, until the global health organization has “re-earned the public trust,” U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday. In an inflammatory video speech delivered to the Gavi pledging summit, seen by POLITICO, Kennedy accused Gavi of neglecting vaccine safety, making questionable recommendations around Covid-19 vaccines and silencing dissenting views. “When the science was inconvenient, Gavi ignored the science,” Kennedy alleged. “I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust and to justify the $8 billion that America has provided in funding since 2001,” he said. “And I’ll tell you how to start taking vaccine safety seriously: Consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts established paradigms. Until that happens, the United States won’t contribute more to Gavi.”

Washington Post: RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel to review childhood immunization schedule The CDC vaccine panel hand-selected by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced it will review the agency’s approved pediatric vaccine schedule and reconsider recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccine, with potential implications for what insurers will cover and what pharmacists can administer The review by the ACIP, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be undertaken by two new work groups, one focused on the childhood and adolescents schedules as a whole and one focused on shots that have been approved for seven or more years. He specifically cited the hepatitis B shot given to infants at birth and the combination measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox shot, two immunizations that have been targeted by vaccine skeptics. The American Academy of Pediatrics, which normally attends ACIP meetings as one of about 30 “liaison” members, announced Wednesday that it would no longer take part in the process.

ABC: RFK Jr. appoints longtime anti-vaccine ally Lyn Redwood to HHS position Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has hired an anti-vaccine advocate and longtime ally to a position at the Health and Human Services Department, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News. Lyn Redwood served for years as president of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization founded by Kennedy. Her exact role at HHS is unclear. Andrew Nixon, a department spokesman, declined to comment. Meanwhile, Redwood is expected to deliver a presentation at the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting on Thursday using a report on thimerosal that is currently available online, which contains misleading information and cites a source that apparently does not exist, according to one author, who told ABC News he is falsely cited in the report.

Newsweek: RFK Jr. Says ‘More Cavities’ Due to No Fluoride in Water Is ‘a Balance’ ealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the U.S. would “see probably slightly more cavities” if fluoride is removed from drinking water. In an appearance on Fox News’ Faulkner Focus, Kennedy said, “Well, people will still get indemnified for it to the extent that they’re already indemnified. But, you know, it is an issue, it’s a balance. You’re gonna see probably slightly more cavities, although in Europe, where they banned fluoride, they did not see an uptick in cavities. “The issue is parents need to decide because the science is very clear on fluoride. The National Toxicity Program issued a report of a meta-review of all the science on it in August that said there’s a direct inverse correlation between the amount of fluoride in your water and your loss of IQ.”

NOTUS: Supreme Court Grants RFK Jr. Unprecedented Power of Key HHS Panel Insurers are required to cover preventive health care services such as cancer and diabetes screenings, mental health counseling and medication to prevent HIV, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, upholding a key provision of the Affordable Care Act. But in doing so, the court gave Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unprecedented power over the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel that recommends which preventive services health plans must cover under the ACA.

Other MAHA Activity:

Public Health Threats

Washington Post: How medical groups may preserve vaccine access — and bypass RFK Jr. Professional medical societies, pharmacists, state health officials and vaccine manufacturers, as well as a new advocacy group, are mobilizing behind the scenes to preserve access for vaccines as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. works to upend the nation’s decades-old vaccine system, according to public health experts. The groups are discussing ordering vaccines directly from manufacturers and giving greater weight to vaccine recommendations from medical associations. And they are asking insurance companies to continue covering shots based on professional societies’ guidance instead of the federal government’s, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the conversations, including some who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions. The moves come as Kennedy has replaced members of the key federal vaccine advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that decides which vaccines are recommended for whom and whether they’ll be covered by insurance. Kennedy fired the 17-member committee earlier this month and handpicked eight new members, several of whom are vaccine critics. But the extraordinary effort to create parallel systems of recommending, and perhaps even providing, vaccines faces major challenges, and some of the more ambitious goals have yet to be ironed out.

Public Health Threats Around The World: 

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In News

HEADLINES: The Senate Version of the GOP Tax Scam Gets Worse By the Day

As Senate Republicans Race to Pass Their “Big, Ugly, Bill,” the Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office Confirmed That Republicans Are Cutting $1 Trillion from Medicaid and Ripping Health Care From 17 Million To Fund Tax Breaks for Billionaires

As Senate Republicans worked through the weekend to push their “Big, Ugly Bill” to a vote, nationwide coverage continues to demonstrate just how devastating and unpopular this bill is for the American people. The House’s version of the bill was bad for health care and for ordinary Americans, but Senate Republicans managed to make it even worse, expanding the health care cuts and kicking even more hardworking Americans off their health care. New analysis from the nonpartisan CBO found that 17 million Americans would lose their health care – one million more than under the House’s version – and more than $1 trillion would be cut from Medicaid, confirming that Senate Republicans made the bill even worse for hospitals and Americans’ health care. 

Not only does this weekend’s coverage highlight how unpopular the bill is across the political spectrum, it calls out Republicans for their continued lies about what this bill would do. This bill gives billionaires and big corporations massive tax breaks by ripping health care from millions of children, seniors, people with disabilities, people fighting cancer or addiction, and hardworking families who don’t get coverage through their employers. Not only will people lose their care, hundreds of hospitals and nursing homes will shut down and middle-class and low-income Americans will face higher costs. The pressure is on so-called moderates like Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins to listen to the outcry from their states and  reject this devastating bill.

NATIONAL HEADLINES

New York Times: G.O.P. Bill Has $1.1 Trillion in Health Cuts and 11.8 Million Losing Care, C.B.O. Says 

  • Republicans’ marquee domestic policy bill that is making its way through the Senate would result in deeper cuts and more Americans losing health insurance coverage than the original measure that passed the House last month, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. According to a report published late Saturday night, the legislation would mean 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034. Federal spending on Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare would be reduced by more than $1.1 trillion over that period — with more than $1 trillion of those cuts coming from Medicaid alone.

Washington Post: Senate GOP Tax Bill Includes Largest Cut To U.S. Safety Net In Decades

  • The Senate Republican tax bill speeding to passage includes the biggest reduction of funding for the federal safety net since at least the 1990s, targeting more than $1 trillion in social spending. Although the legislation is still estimated to cost more than $3 trillion over the next decade, the Senate GOP tax bill partially pays for its large price tag by slashing spending on Medicaid and food stamps, which congressional Republicans maintain are rife with fraud.

KFF Health News: In a First, Trump and GOP-Led Congress Prepare To Swell Ranks of U.S. Uninsured

  • More than 26 million Americans lacked health insurance in the first six months of 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The uninsured are mostly low-income adults under age 65, and people of color, and most live in the South and West. The uninsured rate in the 10 states that, like Georgia, have not expanded Medicaid to nearly all low-income adults was 14.1% in 2023, compared with 7.6% in expansion states, according to KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. Health policy researchers expect the number of uninsured to swell as the second Trump administration and a GOP-controlled Congress try to enact policies that explicitly roll back health coverage for the first time since the advent of the modern U.S. health system in the early 20th century. Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — budget legislation that would achieve some of President Donald Trump’s priorities, like extending tax cuts mainly benefiting the wealthy — some 10.9 million Americans would lose health insurance by 2034, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office based on a House version of the budget bill. A Senate version of the bill could result in more people losing Medicaid coverage, with reductions in federal spending and rules that would make it harder for people to qualify.

The Bulwark: A $1 Trillion Medicaid Cut Is THIS Close to Happening. Here’s What It’d Look Like 

  • Enid Rodriguez Medicaid can make, because it’s made a huge difference for her. […] “Medicaid has literally been a lifesaver,” she told me this week, when we met at the Community Care Clinic of Rowan County, where she used to get care. But there was a tinge of anxiety in her voice, because, she said, she is worried the cuts in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill will leave her without coverage. “I wouldn’t be able to see the cardiologist who makes sure my heart is okay, the gastroenterologist who’s treating my gastrointestinal problems, the weight-loss specialist,” Rodriguez said. Medicaid isn’t perfect, she said, and she doesn’t expect government programs to provide everything she and her husband need. But, she said, “we shouldn’t have to work fifty-, sixty-hour weeks to pay our bills, and still struggle to take care of ourselves when it comes to our medical expenses.” But worry she must. Medicaid coverage for millions of Americans like Rodriguez is in jeopardy. In fact, it could be doomed in a matter of days.

Semafor: Senate Republicans Set Up Surprise Vote On Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion

  • Senate Republicans are setting up a surprise vote within the next 24 hours that could effectively end Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid for future recipients, with Majority Leader John Thune backing it. Thune’s endorsement aligns with key Senate conservatives who want even more aggressive Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s party-line tax and spending cuts bill. The vote can pass with only three GOP defections — and if it succeeds, it could prompt a rebellion against the bill among House Republican moderates.

New York Times: Why a G.O.P. Medicaid Requirement Could Set States Up for Failure

  • The strict Medicaid work requirement at the center of the Republicans’ major policy bill wouldn’t just require millions of poor Americans to prove they are employed to sign up for health insurance. It would also require dozens of states to quickly build expensive and complex software systems to measure and track who is eligible. This new responsibility for states, whose existing Medicaid computer systems are often outdated, would be accompanied by reduced federal funding through other changes in the bill. The result, according to state officials, software developers and policy experts, could be major failures in state systems for enrolling people in Medicaid.

Politico: Trump Pollster Warns Senate GOP Against Deeper Medicaid Cuts

  • Jim McLaughlin, one of President Donald Trump’s top pollsters, said Hill Republicans should nix Senate Republicans’ deeper Medicaid cuts in the megabill or risk deep backlash from voters. “The Senate needs to go back to the House version on Medicaid in the [One Big Beautiful Bill Act], just like the president wants,” Jim McLaughlin, who runs McLaughlin & Associates, told POLITICO Saturday. He continued: “The working class Americans who gave President Trump his overwhelming victory as well as majorities in the House and Senate deserve nothing less.”

Politico: Louisiana Hospitals Warn Mike Johnson Of ‘Devastation’ From Megabill

  • Every major health system in Louisiana is warning Speaker Mike Johnson and the rest of the state’s congressional delegation that the Senate GOP’s planned Medicaid cuts “would be historic in their devastation.” The group sent the warning in a letter that also went to Majority Leader Steve Scalise and GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who has also raised concerns about the cuts. The health systems said the Senate’s revised text hits states like Louisiana even harder than previous iterations and would slash more than $4 billion in Medicaid funding for the state’s health care providers.

IN THE STATES

ALASKA

  • New York Times: Opinion: Alaska Cannot Survive This Bill
  • Alaska Public Media: Legislators Argue Cuts In GOP Megabill Would Mean ‘Chaos’ For Alaska
  • Alaska Public Media: Advocates Worry ‘Big, Beautiful’ GOP Bill Would Push Alaskans Off Medicaid
  • Alaska Beacon: Alaska Becomes A Focus Of Last-Minute Changes To Big Federal Bill, As U.S. Senate Starts Debate
  • The Alaska Memo: The ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill Is Big And Ugly For Alaska
  • Anchorage Daily News: Opinion: The Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Be A Disaster For Alaska Health Care 
  • Anchorage Daily News: Opinion: Medicaid Isn’t Just For ‘Them.’ It’s A Lifeline For All Of Us. 

ARIZONA

  • ABC 15: Local Medicaid Recipient Reacts To Potential Cuts From Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill
  • Arizona Daily Star: Local Opinion: Medicaid Saved My Mother’s Life
  • Tucson Sentinel: GOP Leaders In U.S. Senate Struggle To Lessen Pain Of Medicaid Cuts For Rural Hospitals 
  • Arizona Copper Courier: Arizona Advocates Warn Against Republican Cuts To Kids’ Healthcare, Food Programs

KENTUCKY

MAINE

  • Newsweek: Susan Collins Gets Warning From Maine Voters – Poll
  • Maine Morning Star: Calling Medicaid A ‘Lifeline’ For Mainers, Health Advocates Urge Collins To Oppose GOP Budget Bill  
  • Maine Public: Health Care Advocates Say Medicaid Cuts Will Have Severe Impacts In Maine 
  • Fox23Maine / KIMA: State Rep. Urges Sen. Collins to Vote Against ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ 
  • Maine Morning Star: Gov. Mills Warns Maine Cannot Absorb Cuts In Republicans’ ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
  • News Center Maine: Sen. Susan Collins Votes To Move Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Forward 
  • WGME: Maine Restauranters Speak Out Against GOP’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ 
  • Bangor Daily News: Opinion: Rural Maine Can’t Afford Hospital Losses That Republican Reconciliation Bill Would Bring
  • Maine Public: Health Care Advocates Say Changes To ACA Marketplace Plans Threaten Maine’s Healthcare System
  • Portland Press Herald: Maine’s Hospitals Say They’re Under Threat By Proposed Medicaid Cuts

WEST VIRGINIA

  • Public News Service: Report: WV Small Business Labor Force At Risk From Medicaid Cuts 
  • WVVA: Two Local Hospitals Could Close Under ‘Big Beautiful Bill’, Study Says
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In News, Roundup

ROUNDUP: As Senate GOP Races to Vote, The Country Won’t ‘Get Over It’ If Republicans Pass Their Historic Medicaid Cuts

This Week, Protect Our Care Held Events and Generated Coverage Across the Country, As a Lite-Brite, Mobile Billboard, and Projection on the RNC Put the Pressure on Washington Republicans As They Push This Bill Through the Senate

Protect Our Care supported partners’ actions across D.C., including a rally by SEIU members in front of the White House.

This week, Protect Our Care continued organizing advocates and everyday Americans around the country, as people across the political spectrum speak out against Trump and Congressional Republicans’ “Big, Ugly Bill”. While advocates and U.S. Representatives Don Davis (NC-01), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), and Nanette Barragán (CA-44) headlined local events across the states, Protect Our Care organized a projection on the RNC, a lite-brite on the Senate steps, and a mobile billboard featuring ads targeting six key GOP Senators to blast Washington Republicans as they race to pass their massive health care cuts. 

The GOP bill makes the largest health care cuts in history, slashing Medicaid and dismantling the Affordable Care Act in order to fund tax breaks for big corporations and the wealthy. Millions of Americans would lose life-saving coverage, including seniors, children, veterans, people with disabilities, workers who don’t get insurance through their jobs, and people who take care of their children or elderly parents. Not only will hardworking families lose their health care, but seniors will be forced to leave their nursing homes, people fighting cancer or addiction will lose access to critical treatment, and everyday Americans will face higher costs. Hundreds of rural hospitals would close, causing job cuts and hurting local economies. Poll after poll shows that Americans across the political spectrum overwhelmingly disapprove of this bill. As it heads to the Senate floor in the next few days, the country is counting on GOP Senators like Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, and Josh Hawley to stand up for everyday people instead of billionaires, and reject such devastating health care cuts.

D.C. ACTIONS

Protect Our Care’s mobile billboard which circled Capital Hill and the Mall on Friday, June 27, featuring ads targeting six key Senate Republicans: Lisa Murkowski (AK), Dan Sullivan (AK), Susan Collins (ME), Thom Tillis (NC), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), and Jim Justice (WV).

A lite-brite held on the Senate steps of the Capital on Thursday, June 26, telling Washington Republicans “Hands Off Health Care,” as the GOP Senate rushes to pass their devastating bill.

On Wednesday, June 25, Protect Our Care projected images onto the Republican National Committee in D.C. calling out Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) for their comments dismissing concerned constituents, revealing what Republicans are really thinking: They don’t care that their scheme to give tax breaks to the wealthy by slashing health care will hurt people. Instead, people who lose Medicaid so the rich can get richer will have to “get over it,” according to Mitch McConnell.

STATE EVENTS AND COVERAGE

ALASKA

  • Tuesday, June 24 – Medicaid Memorial Outside Senator Dan Sullivan’s Mat-Su Office with Alaska Caregivers, Mat-Su Residents and Mat-Su United for Progress
  • Wednesday, June 25 – Medicaid Memorial Outside Senator Dan Sullivan’s Anchorage Office with Alaska Caregivers, Patients and Anchorage Residents
  • Wednesday, June 25 – Medicaid Memorial Outside Senator Dan Sullivan’s Ketchikan Office with Alaska Caregivers and Ketchikan Residents
  • Thursday, June 26 – Vigil at Senator Sullivan’s Office with Advocates in Soldotna
  • Friday, June 27 – Vigil at Senator Sullivan’s Office with Advocates in Fairbanks

CALIFORNIA

  • Friday, June 20 – Congressman David Valadao Accountability Save Our Hospital Event with Congresswoman Nanette Barragán and Health Care Advocates.  

MAINE

  • Friday, June 27 at 12PM ET – Medicaid Hospital Closure Event with State Representative Annie Graham.

MISSOURI

  • Wednesday, June 25 – Rural Hospitals Event with State Senator Patty Smith and Health Care Advocates
    • St. Louis Dispatch: Missouri health providers and advocates raise alarms ahead of vote on ‘big, beautiful’ bill
    • Missouri Independent: Federal spending bill could be ‘devastating’ for Missouri Medicaid patients, rural hospitals
    • KRCG (CBS Columbia): Missouri rural areas may experience hospital closures, economic impacts from Medicaid cuts
    • Maryville Forum: Federal spending bill could be ‘devastating’ for Missouri Medicaid patients, rural hospitals
    • Columbia Missourian: Proposed cuts could impact access to Medicaid and rural hospitals
    • KRCG: Missouri officials sound the alarm on Medicaid cuts (also ran during the subsequent 10pm, 4am, and 6pm broadcasts)

NEW YORK 

  • Monday, June 23—SEIU “High Noon” Rallies at Hospitals Across the New York City Metro Area
    • ABC (Broadcast): Thousands of health care workers in New York area to rally against Medicaid cuts
    • ABC (Online): Thousands of health care workers in New York area to rally against Medicaid cuts
    • NYN First Media: June 23, 2025
    • Spectrum Noticias: Trabajadores de la salud protestan contra los cambios propuestos al Medicaid
    • BK Reader: Brooklyn Healthcare Workers Rally Against Possible Medicaid Cuts
    • Daily Voice: Thousands Of NY Hospital Workers Rally Against Health Care Cuts, Warn Of Closures
    • Finger Lakes 1: Medicaid cuts spark protests as hospitals brace for impact
    • QNS: Queens healthcare workers join statewide rally against federal Medicaid cuts, warn of hospital closures

NEW HAMPSHIRE

  • Wednesday, June 25 – Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander Joined Protect Our Care NH for Urgent Briefing on Threats to Medicaid and the ACA in New Hampshire

NORTH CAROLINA

  • Wednesday, June 25 – Rural Hospitals Event with Congressman Don Davis, State Senator Natalie Murdock, and Dr. David Hill
    • NC Newsline: NC Democratic lawmakers decry impact of GOP mega-bill on rural health care
    • WRAZ: Congressman Davis and Senator Murdock to discuss possible cuts to Medicaid
    • WNCT: Congressman Davis partners with Protect Our Care
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In Fact Sheet, News, Research

FACT SHEET: Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill Will Kick Seniors Out Of Nursing Homes And Shutter Over A Quarter Of Facilities

Over A Quarter Of Nursing Homes Will Be Forced To Close Under The GOP Bill

Republicans are charging through the Senate with their reconciliation bill, which makes the largest cuts to health care in American history—including billions in critical funding for nursing homes. These Republican cuts will force more than a quarter of nursing homes to close their doors. If Senate Republicans are successful in passing the bill, millions of Americans will lose their access to care, kicking seniors in nursing homes to the curb, shuttering rural hospitals, and forcing people to travel further and wait longer for lifesaving care. By closing care facilities across the country, the GOP bill will not only rip care away from seniors, people with disabilities, and hard-working families across the country—thousands will lose their jobs and local economies would suffer. Families will be forced to choose between getting their loved one the care they need and putting food on the table, sick people will go without care, and people will die. The Republican big, ugly tax scam will kick 16 million Americans off their health care, cut Medicare, and throw our entire health care system into chaos.

By The Numbers: 

  • Medicaid pays for over six in ten (63%) residents in nursing homes. Without this care, seniors and people with disabilities will be left without the assistance they need for basic activities such as bathing, dressing, and walking.
  • Medicaid is the largest payer of long-term care in America. Medicaid paid for 44 percent of the $147 billion spent on institutional long-term care in 2023. 
  • The GOP is proposing $800 billion in Medicaid cuts at a time when 80 percent of nursing homes are on the brink of closure. These cuts would force more than a quarter of nursing homes to close their doors.
  • GOP Medicaid cuts will undermine the care workforce. More than half of nursing homes would be forced to cut staff at a time they are already facing widespread shortages. An estimated 477,000 health workers will lose their jobs as a result of GOP cuts to Medicaid, from nurses to physical therapists. 

How GOP Policies Will Hurt Nursing Homes, Seniors, and Americans With Disabilities

  • More Than A Quarter Of Nursing Homes Across The Country Will Be Forced To Close Their Doors. 774 nursing homes have already closed since the pandemic, displacing over 28,000 residents and leaving 40 additional U.S. counties without nursing home care. GOP cuts to Medicaid will exacerbate the nationwide nursing home shortage, forcing more than a quarter of U.S. nursing homes to close their doors and leaving numerous Americans without options for their loved ones’ care at time when 57 percent of nursing homes already have a waitlist for new residents.
  • Seniors and People With Disabilities Will Be Kicked To Curb. The Congressional Budget Office estimates at least 1.3 million seniors and people with disabilities will lose Medicaid due to GOP proposals, leaving them without coverage for long-term care. Republicans are pushing for the largest cuts to Medicaid in history which will also force states to cut back on the services they cover and potentially limit seniors’ access to nursing home care. The $800 billion in proposed cuts to the federal Medicaid budget is equivalent to 72 percent of federal funding for long-term care. Policies such as provider tax and state-directed payment restrictions will also make it harder and harder for states to financially support long-term care for a rapidly aging population with the number of adults over age 85 expected to more than double by 2040.
  • Families Will Go Into Debt Struggling To Afford Care For A Loved One. Since Medicare generally does not cover long-term care, families will be left without affordable options for long-term care for their moms, dads, and grandparents. The average cost of a nursing home is over $111,000 a year – a price tag out of reach for most families without assistance. Families who need help may be forced to go into financial debt to get their loved ones the care they need. Third Way estimates GOP proposals will push at least 5.4 million Americans into medical debt and result in $50 billion increase in total medical debt. Families who cannot afford more debt will be forced to cut back on their hours, quit their jobs, or make other sacrifices to look after their loved one.
  • The Already Struggling Care Workforce Will Be Devastated. Nursing homes across the country are already struggling with staffing shortages that can lead to poor quality of care. CMS estimates nursing facilities are nearly 80,000 short of the workers they need to provide adequate care. In 2024, 20 percent of nursing homes closed a unit, wing, or floor due to labor shortages. According to a recent survey from the American Health Care Association, more than half of nursing homes will be forced to cut staff due to GOP cuts to Medicaid. Nursing homes employ over 1.4 million Americans and 30 percent of direct care workers rely on Medicaid themselves for their health care and would be in danger of losing their coverage.
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In News

STATEMENT: SCOTUS Rejects Far-Right Attack on ACA, But Preventive Care is Still At Risk

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Supreme Court rightly rejected a constitutional challenge from far-right activists that would have eliminated the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s cost-free coverage requirement for numerous life-saving preventive care services. Approximately 150 million Americans rely on the ACA for free access to services like cancer screenings, statins to address high cholesterol levels, mental health screenings, HIV prevention medication, and more.

However, despite this win, preventative services are still in danger. The Trump administration was given the ability to overturn health experts’ evidence-based recommendations regarding which preventive services insurers must cover. HHS Secretary RFK Jr. already replaced a key panel responsible for issuing vaccine recommendations and just yesterday the panel made one of the first major changes in federal vaccine guidance, voting to recommend that no one receives certain flu shots containing an ingredient anti-vaccine advocates have long targeted without any evidence. Existing coverage is now at risk, given the Trump administration’s open embrace of pseudoscientific treatments and track record of embracing junk plans that are not required to cover evidence-based services – not to mention their longtime goal of repealing the ACA altogether.

In response, Protect Our Care Senior Advisor Anne Shoup issued a statement:

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling in Kennedy v. Braidwood is a major victory for the American people and for affordable health care. For now, millions of Americans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they can continue to access free lifesaving care, such as cancer screenings, statins to address high cholesterol levels, mental health screenings, and HIV prevention medication. But make no mistake – this is not over. While today’s ruling protects preventive care for now, the Trump administration including HHS Secretary RFK Jr., Republicans, and other far-right extremists continue to try and weaken these protections and hand more power to insurance companies. The fight to protect affordable health care for all is far from over. We must remain vigilant to ensure access to science-backed preventative services are protected”

ashoup
In News, Commentary

ADVISORY: Protect Our Care’s Mobile Billboard to Circle Capitol Hill Urging Key Senate Republicans to Stand Up for Constituents, Not Billionaires, and Reject Health Care Cuts

***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR FRIDAY JUNE 27*** 

View the Ads Here

Washington, D.C. – Protect Our Care is organizing a mobile billboard which will circle Capitol Hill and the Mall, targeting six key Senate Republicans as they race to pass their “Big, Ugly Bill” this weekend. On Friday, June 27 from 10 AM ET to 6 PM ET, the mobile billboard will play Protect Our Care’s ads targeting Lisa Murkowski (AK), Dan Sullivan (AK), Susan Collins (ME), Thom Tillis (NC), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), and Jim Justice (WV). 

The GOP bill makes the largest health care cuts in history, slashing Medicaid and dismantling the Affordable Care Act in order to fund tax breaks for big corporations and the wealthy. Millions of Americans would lose life-saving coverage, including seniors, children, veterans, people with disabilities, workers who don’t get insurance through their jobs, and people who take care of their children or elderly parents. Not only will hardworking families lose their coverage, but rural hospitals will shut down, seniors will be forced to leave their nursing homes, and people fighting cancer or addiction will lose access to critical treatment. Senate Republicans need to stand up for their constituents and reject this bill or face the consequences at the ballot box. 

WHAT: Mobile Billboard

WHERE: Capitol Hill and the Mall

WHEN: 10 AM ET to 6 PM ET

Sample Ad Script for ME:

Narrator: With everyday costs as high as they are, no one can afford to lose their health care. Yet, right now, some in Congress are trying to pass the biggest cut to Medicaid in history. 

Their plan means sixteen million Americans could lose health care. Seniors, veterans, and children with disabilities. All to give another tax break to billionaires and big corporations.

Our Senator, Susan Collins, can stop this from happening.

Call Senator Collins and tell her we’re counting on her to stop these cuts to our health care.

ashoup
In News

HEADLINES: Protect Our Care, Advocates Sound the Alarm In Key Senate States As Their Senators Consider Big, Ugly Bill

Over the past week, health care advocates and everyday Americans in Alaska, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, and West Virginia have been sounding the alarm over the tax bill their Republican Senators are racing to pass. The bill would kick millions off their health care by making the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in history, all so Trump and the GOP can give tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthy. Millions of children and people with disabilities would lose coverage, seniors would be forced to leave their nursing homes, and people with cancer or serious medical conditions would lose lifesaving care. In rural states like these, Republican cuts would force hospitals to shut down, costing jobs and crippling local economies. Poll after poll shows that Americans across the political spectrum overwhelmingly disapprove of this bill. Now it’s on GOP Senators like Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, and Josh Hawley to listen to the outcry from their constituents, and reject this devastating bill.

ALASKA

  • Anchorage Daily News: Opinion from State Representative Mina: Alaskans Will Lose Under Proposed SNAP and Medicaid Cuts
  • Anchorage Daily News: Opinion: As An Anchorage Pediatrician, I See Every Day How the Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Hurt Alaska Kids 
  • KBBI Homer: Homer Residents Protest Proposed Medicaid Cuts
  • KHNS Radio: Klukwan Teen Says Medicaid Gives Him the Resources to Live His Life
  • Anchorage Daily News: We’re Alaska Health Care Providers. Defunding Planned Parenthood Through Medicaid Cuts Will Harm Our Patients And Our Clinics.
  • Wasilla Frontiersman: Caregivers, Families Rally Against Proposed Medicaid Cuts In Wasilla

MAINE

  • Portland Press Herald: Maine’s Hospitals Say They’re Under Threat by Proposed Medicaid Cuts 
  • Bangor Daily News: Opinion: Rural Maine Can’t Afford Hospital Losses That Republican Reconciliation Bill Would Bring (paywalled, the full text is viewable here)

MISSOURI

  • KRCG: Missouri Officials Sound the Alarm on Medicaid Cuts 
  • St. Louis Dispatch: Missouri Health Providers And Advocates Raise Alarms Ahead Of Vote On ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill
  • Missouri Independent: Federal Spending Bill Could Be ‘Devastating’ For Missouri Medicaid Patients, Rural Hospitals
  • Krcg (CBS Columbia): Missouri Rural Areas May Experience Hospital Closures, Economic Impacts From Medicaid Cuts
  • Maryville Forum: Federal Spending Bill Could Be ‘Devastating’ For Missouri Medicaid Patients, Rural Hospitals
  • Columbia Missourian: Proposed Cuts Could Impact Access To Medicaid And Rural Hospitals
  • Ktvo (CBS Kirksville): Missouri Rural Areas May Experience Hospital Closures, Economic Impacts From Medicaid Cuts

NORTH CAROLINA 

  • NC Newsline: NC Democratic Lawmakers Decry Impact Of GOP Mega-Bill On Rural Health Care
  • WRAZ: Congressman Davis And Senator Murdock To Discuss Possible Cuts To Medicaid 
  • WNCT: Congressman Davis Partners With Protect Our Care 
  • Wilson Times: Our Communities, Hospitals Can’t Afford To Lose Medicaid

WEST VIRGINIA

  • WTAP: What Could The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” Mean For West Virginians? 
  • Herald-Dispatch: Vigil Highlights Locals Concerns On Cuts To Medicaid
  • WV Metro News: Hospital Reps: Rural Healthcare Providers Would Be At Risk Under ‘Big, Beautiful’ Provisions
  • Charleston Gazette-Mail: Opinion from Brian McNicoll: Trump Must Find Other Places To Cut
  • The Intermountain: Medicaid, SNAP A Focus Of Proposed Bill 
  • WV Watch: Medicaid Matters For Oral Health 
  • Gazette-Mail: 6 Arrested During Sit-In At Capito’s Office, Charleston, WV
  • WV Watch: Six Arrested While Protesting Cuts To Medicaid, SNAP Outside Capito’s Charleston Office
  • WCHS-TV: Six Charged With Trespassing While Protesting At Sen. Capito’s Charleston Office
  • WV Watch: “Big, Beautiful Bill” Contains Severe Cuts To Programs For West Virginians With Disabilities
  • WTRF: West Virginia Organizations Push Back Against Senate Plan To Cut Medicaid And SNAP
  • WV Metronews: As ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Hits Home Stretch, Community Groups Urge Senators To Say ‘No’
  • WVVA-TV: As Coal Miners Face Layoffs, Federal Cuts To Public Assistance Also Loom
  • WV News: Gop Medicaid Cuts Threaten To Devastate Key Lifeline In West Virginia
  • 12WBOY: Mountaineer Food Bank Says SNAP Changes Means 9.5 Billion Fewer Meals
  • Logan Banner: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Be Detrimental, Health Leader Says; 7 Rural WV Hospitals Would Close
  • Appalachian Voices: Groups Urge Sens. Capito, Justice To Protect West Virginia
ashoup
In Commentary, News

ADVISORY: Protect Our Care Urges Senate Republicans to Reject Catastrophic Health Care Cuts With Lite Brite Display and Mobile Billboard

***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR THURSDAY JUNE 26 AND FRIDAY JUNE 27***

View the Ads Here

Washington, D.C. – Protect Our Care is holding two events this week as Senate Republicans march towards a vote on their Big, Ugly Bill ahead of their self-imposed July 4th deadline. On Thursday, June 26 at 9 PM ET, a Lite-Brite display telling Republicans “Hands Off Health Care” will be held on the east front of the Senate steps. On Friday, June 27 from 10 AM ET to 6 PM ET, a mobile billboard will circle Capitol Hill and the Mall playing ads targeting six key Senate Republicans: Lisa Murkowski (AK), Dan Sullivan (AK), Susan Collins (ME), Thom Tillis (NC), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), and Jim Justice (WV). The action follows Protect Our Care’s projection on the RNC building in D.C. which blasted Senators Mitch Connell and Joni Ernst for their comments mocking and dismissing constituents worried about Medicaid cuts. 

The GOP bill makes the largest health care cuts in history, slashing Medicaid and dismantling the Affordable Care Act in order to fund tax breaks for big corporations and the wealthy. Millions of Americans would lose life-saving coverage, including seniors, children, veterans, people with disabilities, workers who don’t get insurance through their jobs, and people who take care of their children or elderly parents. Not only will hardworking families lose their health care, but rural hospitals will shut down, seniors will be forced to leave their nursing homes, and people fighting cancer or addiction will lose access to critical treatment. Senate Republicans need to stand up for their constituents and reject this bill or face the consequences at the ballot box. 

THURSDAY

WHAT: Lite-Brite Display

WHERE: East front of the Senate steps

WHEN: 9 PM ET

FRIDAY

WHAT: Mobile Billboard

WHERE: Capitol Hill and the Mall

WHEN: 10 AM ET to 6 PM ET

Sample Ad Script for ME:

Narrator: With everyday costs as high as they are, no one can afford to lose their health care. Yet, right now, some in Congress are trying to pass the biggest cut to Medicaid in history. 

Their plan means sixteen million Americans could lose health care. Seniors, veterans, and children with disabilities. All to give another tax break to billionaires and big corporations.

Our Senator, Susan Collins, can stop this from happening.

Call Senator Collins and tell her we’re counting on her to stop these cuts to our health care.

ashoup
In News

MCCONNELL EXPOSES TRUTH: Protect Our Care Blasts Republicans For Sen. McConnell’s Comment Telling Millions Who Lose Medicaid to “Get Over It”

Protect Our Care Projected Images Holding Senators McConnell and Ernst Accountable for Dismissing Constituents’ Concerns About the Health Care Cuts in the GOP’s Big, Ugly Bill


Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Protect Our Care projected images onto the Republican National Committee in D.C. calling out Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) for saying what Republicans are really thinking: They don’t care that their health care cuts will hurt people. Instead, people who lose Medicaid so the rich can get tax breaks will have to “get over it,” according to Mitch McConnell. 

The comment, made yesterday to GOP colleagues, comes weeks after Joni Ernst’s “We’re all going to die” comment that went viral. These flagrant dismissals of concerned constituents make one thing clear: Republicans know their “Big, Ugly Bill” will strip health care from millions to fund tax cuts for the wealthy – and they don’t care that it will hurt people. The bill will rip health care from 16 million Americans by making the largest Medicaid cuts in history and dismantling the Affordable Care Act. 

“These two Republican leaders have been exposed for spilling the truth about their megabill: they know it’ll hurt everyday Americans while giving tax breaks to the richest, and they don’t care,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “Trump and these Republicans have no shame. You can’t make the largest health care cuts in history without taking care from children and people with disabilities, without kicking seniors out of nursing homes, and without raising costs and taking care from everyday Americans, and McConnell and Ernst just proved it. Instead of listening to the outrage pouring in from across the country and the political spectrum, Republicans are racing to pass this devastating bill and destabilize our health care system to put more money into the pockets of the ultra-wealthy, no matter how many lives it costs.”

ashoup
In News

TODAY: Protect Our Care Continues Events Across the Country Rallying Against Catastrophic Health Care Cuts In Republican Spending Bill

Protect Our Care Holds Events In Alaska, Missouri, New Hampshire, and North Carolina Headlined by U.S. Representatives Don Davis (D-NC-01) and Maggie Goodlander (D-NH-02)

Today, Protect Our Care is hosting events coast to coast with U.S. Representatives Don Davis (D-NC-01), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH-02), and health care advocates to call on Senate Republicans to put an end to their war on health care and reject Donald Trump’s big, ugly bill. The Republican bill makes the biggest cut to American health care in history, decimating Medicaid and dismantling the Affordable Care Act. The consequences of this bill cannot be overstated, with 16 million Americans off their health care just to hand out tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. Speakers will address the urgent need for Congress to stop Republican efforts to slash Medicaid and raise premiums, and they will call on lawmakers to protect affordable access to health care for Americans, not take it away.

NORTH CAROLINA

WHO:
U.S. Representative Don Davis (D-NC-01)
State Sen. Natalie Murdock
Dr. David Hill
Protect Our Care NC

WHAT: Virtual Press Conference

WHERE: Register to join the Zoom event (Registration required)

WHEN: Wednesday, June 25 at 10 AM ET

NEW HAMPSHIRE

WHO:
U.S. Representative Maggie Goodlander (D-NH-02)
Jayme Simoes, Protect Our Care New Hampshire

WHAT: Virtual Press Conference with Representative Goodlander

WHERE: Register to join the Zoom event (Registration required)

WHEN: Wednesday, June 25 at 3PM ET

MISSOURI

WHO:
Nancy Kelly, Director of Advocacy at Missouri Foundation of Health
Missouri Senator Patty Lewis (D-MO-7)
Protect Our Care MO

WHAT: Medicaid Accountability/Save Our Hospitals Event with Advocates

WHERE: Register here to join the Zoom event (Registration required)

WHEN: Wednesday, June 25 at 1:30 PM CT // 2:30 PM ET

ALASKA

Anchorage

WHO: Amber Lee, Protect Our Care Alaska
SEIU 775
Heidi Drygas, ASEA AFSCME Local 52 Executive Director
Joelle Hall, Alaska AFL-CIO President and an Alaska Caregiver.

WHAT: Death by a Trillion Cuts: What’s At Stake – Anchorage Office Action

WHERE: Outside of Senator Dan Sullivan’s Office:
510 L Street, Anchorage, Alaska
1900 First Ave, Suite 225, Ketchikan

WHEN: Wednesday, June 25 at 12 PM AKDT // 4 PM ET

Ketchikan

WHO:
Concerned citizens
Alaska Caregivers
Protect Our Care Alaska

WHERE: Outside of Senator Dan Sullivan’s Office:
1900 First Ave, Suite 225, Ketchikan, Alaska

WHEN: Wednesday, June 25 at 12 PM AKDT // 4 PM ET

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