FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 22, 2023
Contact: Jack Cardinal, (781) 960-5208, [email protected]
Anne Shoup, [email protected]
Campaign Launches With Full Page New York Times Ad
And Weeklong Digital Ad Campaign
Washington, DC — Community Catalyst Action Fund and Protect Our Care are launching an ad campaign ahead of a day of action tomorrow to oppose any cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in a final deal on the Republican’s debt default plan. The effort is backed by dozens of other leading health justice organizations, and patient and provider advocate groups.
The ad campaign kicked off with a joint ad in The New York Times and a weeklong digital ad campaign from Community Catalyst Action Fund.
You can see the joint NYT ad here, which reads: The Republican default plan could take health care and food support away from millions of people and families. Tell them: No cuts to Medicaid or SNAP.
The digital ads from Community Catalyst Action Fund will run throughout the week and target key lawmakers.
The day of action is an opportunity for local, state and community partners and advocates to engage policymakers in a discussion about the impact that these cuts would have on people and families in their communities, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet. It is also a moment to remind policymakers that Medicaid is also one of the best ways to prevent medical debt, which impacts more than 40 percent of households and will only worsen if Congress continues to give tax breaks to the wealthy while cutting key programs for families and people with low incomes. Due to racism and other forms of oppression, cuts to Medicaid deepen health inequity of already systematically excluded communities, which is why there is Tri-Caucus led effort to speak out against these proposals.
“It is shameful and wrong that some are willing to hold our economy hostage to advance an agenda of taking affordable health care and food away from millions of people,” said Emily Stewart, executive director of Community Catalyst and Community Catalyst Action Fund. “Our message to Congress is clear: No cuts to Medicaid, SNAP or TANF. It is unconscionable to take away health care and food away from those who need it while protecting tax cuts for the wealthy and massive corporations.”
“Republicans are threatening to default on our nation’s debt in order to push their radical agenda of ripping away health care and other vital support from millions of Americans,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “They have fully reginited their war on health care and food assistance, fighting to slash programs that keep families, people with disabilities, parents and caregivers healthy, at work and out of poverty in order to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest people and corporations. People across political parties, no matter where they live, overwhelmingly oppose this MAGA agenda and are raising their voices in opposition.”
Sherrell Bird knows all too well the impact that these cuts would have on people in the community, as the executive director of SOWEGA Rising, a nonprofit focused on building community power in her hometown of Albany, Georgia, and its surrounding communities. She is one of many that are organizing events and advocacy in their communities. “People are facing health and economic hardships every day in our community and it’s past time that politicians start putting us first, rather than doing the bidding of the wealthiest among us,” she shared. “Taking health care and food away is not the direction we should be going as a country — it is dangerous, it is unfair, and it must stop.”
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About Community Catalyst Action Fund: Community Catalyst Action Fund builds the power of people to create a health system rooted in race equity and health justice, and a society where health is a right for all. We strengthen the health justice and advocacy movement to achieve community-led political and policy wins that put people over profits. Learn more here.
About Protect Our Care: Protect Our Care is a nonprofit organization that is leading the fight for better health care at lower costs.