John,
Sixty years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law—historic programs that have saved lives, reduced poverty, and kept generations of families out of medical bankruptcy. Before Medicare, nearly half of all seniors had no health insurance. Today, that number is less than 1%.[1] Medicaid now covers more than 72 million low-income families, children, and people with disabilities.
But instead of honoring this landmark achievement, Republicans just marked the programs’ 60th birthday with the crash of a wrecking ball. The recently enacted Trump-GOP tax-and-spending law slashed over $1 trillion from Medicaid and other healthcare programs, making it the largest cut to healthcare in American history.[2] As if that weren’t enough, the bill is set to trigger another $490 billion in Medicare cuts.
The result will be 15 million people losing health coverage, 51,000 preventable deaths a year, hundreds of rural hospitals shuttered, and over a million jobs gone by 2029.[3][4]
Let’s be clear: these cuts are being made while handing out trillions in tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations. Hospitals warned this would create a crisis. Doctors pleaded with Congress. Advocates called it a catastrophe. Republicans did it anyway.
We can’t let this stand. Today, on the 60th anniversary of these essential programs, tell Congress to reverse these healthcare cuts and reject any budget deal that doesn’t fully restore funding to Medicare and Medicaid.
These cuts hit hardest in the communities that rely on these programs the most—low-income, rural, and working-class families will bear the brunt. That means more people being forced to delay treatment, skip prescriptions, or face impossible medical debt. It means sicker communities and rising health inequities. It means so much of what we’ve fought to build over the last six decades will be erased.
We’ve seen this sick pattern before. The GOP hands out massive tax breaks to the ultra-rich, explodes the deficit, and then demands that working families pay the price. And who benefits? The same billionaires who funded Trump’s campaign. The CEOs who can afford private jets and concierge doctors. All while millions lose the ability to afford insulin, surgery, or cancer treatment.
At Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund, we’re fighting back. We’re pushing to repeal the GOP’s healthcare cuts and reverse the newly renewed Trump tax giveaways, a massive windfall for billionaires that comes at the direct expense of working families’ healthcare.
Demand that Congress undo the GOP’s attack on healthcare and fully fund Medicare and Medicaid.
Together, we can stop this tragedy from becoming permanent policy. We can keep Medicare and Medicaid strong for another 60 years and beyond.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1]Celebrating Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid Anniversaries with an Eye Toward Current Hazards and Future Threats
[2] Senate megabill marks biggest Medicaid cuts in history
[3] Projected Mortality Impacts of the Budget Reconciliation Bill
[4] How Medicaid and SNAP Cutbacks in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Would Trigger Big and Bigger Job Losses Across States
