AFSCME Family,

Sixty years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law, arguing that in a nation “bursting with abundance,” no one should be denied care because they are poor, elderly, or living with a disability. Through these historic programs, he said, we would advance an American tradition that calls on us “to never be indifferent toward despair.”

For more than half a century now, our elected leaders have honored this tradition by strengthening Medicare, expanding Medicaid, and making health care coverage more affordable for more people.

That is, until now.

Earlier this month, Congress and the president passed a bill that guts Medicaid and triggers automatic cuts to Medicare, just to give billionaires and big corporations more tax breaks.

The impact on our communities will be staggering as 15 million people lose coverage, hospitals shut down, and plummeting state and local revenues put all public services – and the workers like us who provide them – at risk.

AFSCME members fought like hell to stop this bill. But now that it’s law, we must prepare for the battles ahead.

It’s time to Get Organized. It’s time to build worker power, defend public services, and hold Congress accountable for putting billionaires ahead of our communities.

👉 Read more about what’s at stake—and what’s next for our AFSCME GO campaign.

AFSCME family, we will not sit back as cuts to Medicaid and Medicare leave millions of Americans just one illness away from bankruptcy. We will honor the tradition that President Johnson once spoke of— because we will never grow indifferent to the suffering of others.

In solidarity,

Lee Saunders
AFSCME President