OAKLAND, Calif.—As Congressional Republicans were ramping up their efforts to keep tax breaks for the rich by slashing $1.5 trillion from programs helping ordinary people, at hospitals around California doctors, nurses and other health care workers rallied with families, people with disabilities, seniors and elected officials on May 13, demanding, “Hands Off Medicaid!”Over 300 protesters gathered for a noontime rally at Oakland’s Wilma Chan Highland Hospital, a public hospital that is part of the county-wide Alameda Health System, to fight back against some $880 billion in cuts Republicans are proposing from Medicaid (known in California as Medi-Cal) and other health care programs.
Almost 40% of Californians, and half the state’s children, are enrolled in Medi-Cal, which pays for one in four births in California. Federal funds cover over half the state’s Medi-Cal budget, according to the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund.
First to the podium was Oakland’s Mayor-Elect Barbara Lee, who will assume her new office next week after nearly three decades in Congress, where she worked to uphold people’s needs and promote world peace.
Thanking the hospital’s staff for their “lifesaving work” to make health care available to “everyday people” throughout the city, Lee told them they are carrying out the city’s motto, “Love Life.”
“We know what this is about—this is about corporations, wealthy billionaires, and tax cuts,” she told the crowd. “We’re going to fight back, say ‘Hands Off Medicaid,’ and say No to cutting $880 billion. That’s outrageous, it’s wrong, it’s immoral, it’s unethical, it’s un-American!”
Theresa Rutherford, president of SEIU Local 1021, which represents over 54,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, health care programs and schools throughout Northern California, including many health care workers at Highland Hospital, carried that theme forward as she led rally participants in chanting, “When Medicaid is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
Rutherford, a certified nursing assistant at Laguna Honda, a publicly funded nursing care facility in San Francisco, said over 90% of funding for that facility, and for San Francisco General Hospital, comes from Medicaid.
“It’s not just about health care, it’s about community,” she said. “We cannot afford for the federal government to prioritize the rich folks over the people who work and build this community … The way America will be successful is because of diversity, because of community, because of immigration, because of every one of us standing up and fighting for what we believe!”
Vashti Hayes, who uses a wheelchair and is an accessibility advocate, told the crowd, “During a particularly difficult time in my life, I was cared for right here at Highland Hospital, which, as you know, is one of the many community hospitals that could be at risk if Medicaid is cut.
“For people like me—disabled, working, and trying to navigate my health care needs, Medicaid is a lifeline. We cannot afford to lose what we rely on to stay alive and well. We need lawmakers to stop these proposed Medicaid cuts and make sure hospitals like this remain open and accessible.”
California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta said he believes society should be judged on how the most vulnerable people are treated, and what Republicans in Congress are proposing with their cuts to Medicaid “gets an F-minus, in my judgment … Why all these risks and all these cuts? So a massive tax cut can be given to Trump’s billionaire buddies and Elon Musk, while everyday Americans suffer and don’t get the care we need.”
Looking to the future, Bonta sounded a note of hope as he reminded the crowd that the United States is a country “of, by, and for the people. We have a say, we have agency, there are a lot of chapters to be written in the story of California, of America, and we are going to write it together!”
Emergency Room nurse John Pearson recalled a recent conversation with a patient who was experiencing a life-threatening infection, but when a doctor recommended a hospital stay, the patient responded with great concern about whether the cost would be covered by insurance.
“In every single developed country in the world,” Pearson said, “that is something that goes unquestioned. Everybody gets health care, no questions are asked, and you don’t have to go to a special place to find out if you can pay for it. But here in the U.S., where we have tons of wealth and money—but unfortunately, concentrated in just a few hands—we have to ask those questions.”
Also addressing the crowd were SEIU 1021 East Bay Vice President Derrick Boutee; shop steward and mental health specialist Tawanda Gilbert; and Philip Sossenheimer, M.D., director of the Alameda Health System’s Post-Acute Palliative Care Services.
In a conversation after the rally, Takiyah Vaughn, a surgical technician at San Leandro Hospital—also part of the Alameda Health System—said the Medicaid cuts Congress is considering would affect a great number of the hospital’s patients. She especially noted the risk to patients receiving kidney dialysis, who must undergo treatment several times a week, risking death if they go without that care.
Vaughn said slashing Medicaid funds would have a drastic effect on the whole community. With four out of 10 children depending on Medi-Cal-funded health care, she said, “These kids won’t even be able to get their necessary immunizations, or care they need to attend school. From the oldest patients to the youngest patients, there are so many who rely on Medi-Cal. We must maintain and continue the services we have.”
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