Medicaid defenders are holding events across the country this week, starting Tuesday, to raise public awareness and mobilize Americans against the House GOP's proposal for $880 billion in cuts to the program that provides healthcare to tens of millions of low-income people, including children.
The in-person and virtual events were organized by the advocacy group Protect Our Care, which is also expanding its ad and billboard campaigns against the budget resolution that House Republicans unveiled last week.
The GOP budget blueprint calls for at least $4 trillion in tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. Those tax breaks would be partially offset by steep cuts to Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other programs that many working-class families rely on to make ends meet or survive through financial emergencies.
If enacted, Protect Our Care warned, the GOP plan would result in "millions losing coverage, including children, new moms, seniors, and people with disabilities."
"Americans across party lines oppose cuts to Medicaid, and new polling finds that a majority of Americans think the government should spend more on healthcare—not less," the group said. "Throughout the week, speakers will discuss how these unpopular cuts will hurt families and call on lawmakers to protect access to healthcare, not take it away."
The events will kick off Tuesday with a "Medicaid Defense Press Conference" in Vista, California featuring U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.). Later in the week, similar events will be held in New York, North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Maine.
"House Republicans are putting Medicaid on the chopping block—a move that would rip lifesaving healthcare away from tens of thousands of their own constituents."
The Protect Our Care events come as House Democrats are beginning to target Republicans in battleground districts in preparation for the looming high-stakes congressional fight over Medicaid.
The House Majority PAC (HMP), a top Democratic super PAC, wrote in a memo Tuesday that "while Donald Trump and House Republicans promised to 'love and cherish' Medicaid, House Republicans have gone full Matt Bevin"—a reference to the former Republican Kentucky governor who aggressively pursued Medicaid work requirements during his time in office.
Republicans in the U.S. House are now looking to impose Medicaid work requirements nationwide, even though most Medicaid recipients under the age of 65 already work. Research has repeatedly shown that work requirements do little to boost employment—but they are effective at booting people from programs by adding onerous bureaucratic hurdles.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated earlier this month that the GOP's plan to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients—which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called "common sense"—could strip benefits from around 36 million people across the country.
In its memo on Tuesday, HMP spotlighted the number of Medicaid recipients represented by House Republicans in competitive districts across the U.S.:
"The cuts currently pushed by House Republicans will be a defining issue in 2026, and HMP will hold them accountable for abandoning their constituents to further enrich the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations," the Democratic PAC said.
"In battleground congressional districts across the country," the organization added, "House Republicans are putting Medicaid on the chopping block—a move that would rip lifesaving healthcare away from tens of thousands of their own constituents—roughly half of whom are children."
