Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06), & Americans who have been impacted by Washington Republicans’ attacks on health care joined a press call alongside Unrig Our Economy, Social Security Works, Protect Our Care, and Caring Across Generations to warn about a harsh new Republican Medicaid rule that could rip coverage away from people with serious and chronic illnesses. This press call comes a few days before the public comment period for the rule ends on July 31, 2026. 

During the call, participants called out Republicans in Congress for supporting a tax law that implemented the largest cuts to Medicaid in its history. This Republican Tax Law was the gateway to this latest proposed rule by the Trump administration. Now, millions of Americans’ health care is in jeopardy – all so billionaires and giant corporations can get another tax break.

Participants also discussed how implementing this new rule could put patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, end-stage renal disease, sickle cell disease, and many other serious and debilitating diseases at risk of losing their much-needed health coverage. They also urged everyone listening to push back against this rule and submit their public comment before the July 31 deadline.

Watch the full press call here

“It’s been just over a year since Republicans made the biggest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in our nation’s history,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). “Now, Republicans are pushing forward even more red tape for families. Their new rule will make Americans jump through more hoops just to access sometimes lifesaving care that they are clearly eligible for. That’s because these cuts were never about fraud, waste, or abuse like Republicans claimed. Their Big, Ugly Bill was designed to kick eligible people off Medicaid to help pay for tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit corporations and special interest donors – the very same corporations that jack up the cost of health care on Americans in the first place.”

“Today marks the 61st anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, which were initiated with the promise that our country would make sure that seniors, folks with disabilities, and folks struggling to make ends meet would have access to health care. But what happened in the so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress broke the promises that had been made to the American people,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). “15 million of our fellow Americans are going to lose their health insurance in the coming years because of the Trump health care cuts. In my home state of Maryland alone, over 200,000 people will lose coverage because of the actions Republicans took in their bill to give tax breaks to billionaires at the cost of cutting health care and driving up prices for working Americans.”

“In Michigan, the average additional cost to families for basic living expenses, including health care, this year, has already gone up by $3,000, and it is predicted that up to 700,000 Michiganders could lose their insurance this year,” said Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06). “This [new rule] isn’t making America healthier; it’s making people sicker and our health care system weaker. We have to keep fighting back, and one of the ways we fight back is that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is accepting public comments until July 31. Your voice matters more than ever. Make sure your voice is heard.”

“I have several complex health conditions, including vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome, POTS, and a brain stem tumor. Medicaid helped make my journey possible,” said Alexander L., a Medicaid recipient and Nebraska resident. “Because I had Medicaid coverage, I was able to be admitted to the hospital, undergo brain surgery, and receive specialized care for a very rare medical condition. Otherwise, I would have died. That’s why these cuts and new barriers are so dangerous. Congressional Republicans need to understand what these policies mean for real people. I am asking Nebraska Republicans to listen to people like me, oppose these harmful cuts, and protect Medicaid for everyone whose life may depend on it.”

“I saw my doctor on a Monday, had a mammogram that Wednesday, and by Friday, I had been diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Rebecca R., a breast cancer patient and single mother of three from Kenosha, WI. “Since then, I have gone through 20 weeks of chemotherapy, daily radiation treatments, countless lab work, and other infusions. Medicaid has helped me receive the care I need throughout this fight. There are people living with more debilitating conditions. And none of them should have to choose between their health, their income, and keeping their health coverage. Our government should be making it easier for people to access affordable health care during some of the hardest and most painful times of their lives, not putting more barriers in their way.”

“Republicans in Congress voted for massive cuts to Medicaid to fund tax breaks for billionaires. Now, Americans with serious illnesses are at-risk of losing health care coverage altogether due to this Medicaid rule,” said Unrig Our Economy Campaign Director Leor Tal. “This is not an accident – this is the consequence of putting the wants of the ultra-rich over the needs of their constituents. We need everyone to share their comments before the July 31 deadline for this rule, and, even better, we need Republicans in Congress to undo these devastating cuts to Medicaid that are jeopardizing working families’ lives.”

“The last thing patients facing cancer and other devastating illnesses need is to worry about losing their healthcare. The Republican Medicaid rule forces these patients into a bureaucratic nightmare, where they have to spend precious hours on the phone and filling out forms. Many of them are likely to lose their healthcare as a result. All so that billionaires can buy yet another golden yacht,” said Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works.

“These work requirements were never really about work, they were designed to make the paperwork so grueling that people give up or miss something and lose eligibility. Congress promised that anyone who was ‘medically frail’ would be exempt. But the rules written to implement that promise are so narrow, and require re-proving it so often, that the exemption barely functions. The people getting caught aren’t outliers,  more than six in ten Medicaid adults with disabilities are covered through the ACA expansion, disabled people, older adults, family caregivers, and people managing serious illness are squarely at risk of losing coverage. This is what happens when a policy is built to fail people on purpose,” said Nicole Jorwic, Chief Program Officer, Caring Across Generations.

“The Republicans designed these Medicaid work requirements to create red tape and force people off their coverage to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations,” said Protect Our Care National Organizing Director Adam Hoyer. “A mother caring for her child who has a disability. A neighbor recovering from surgery, waiting on his next round of chemo. A warehouse worker managing a chronic illness whose hours got slashed because his manager cut the schedule. None of them can find a way through this maze, because it was built to wear people down until they give up. Families are going to lose coverage they’ve relied on for years, because they couldn’t survive the paperwork. Providers are going to get squeezed until they can’t keep the lights on. While communities across the country are already grappling with hospital closures and rising health care costs, work requirements and the new rule will only make it worse.”

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About Unrig Our Economy
Unrig Our Economy is a national campaign to fix the rules of our economy to make it work for working people. We know that when the middle class does well, all of us do well — which is why we’re fighting on behalf of working Americans and holding corporations, their wealthy executives, and the politicians who enable them accountable.

About Social Security Works

Social Security Works is a non-profit fighting to protect and expand Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—because everyone deserves to live in dignity. 

About Protect Our Care

Protect Our Care is a nonprofit organization that is leading the fight to make high-quality, affordable and equitable health care a right, and not a privilege, for everyone in America.

Caring Across Generations

Caring Across Generations is a nonprofit working to build affordable care systems across throughout the lifespan. We transform cultural norms and narratives about aging, disability and care; win policy change at every level; and unite a powerful coalition across the millions of us who are touched by care.