Medicaid Defense: Updates & Opportunities
May 2025
Medicaid continues to face attacks at the federal level through the budget reconciliation process, as Republican leadership attempts to provide trillions of dollars of tax breaks for the wealthiest in the country. They also aim to increase funding to the deportation machine and pay for it with cuts to social services, such as Medicaid and Social Security. At this point, the House and Senate have both passed their versions of the budget plan, and now they are in the process of negotiating specific spending cuts. Their goal is to be done by Memorial Day.
As we know, these cuts would be devastating to people across the country – one in five people are on Medicaid nationwide, and one in three are on Medicaid in California (known as Medi-Cal). Medicaid is essential for independent living for seniors and disabled people, as IHSS and most other long-term services and supports are funded through Medicaid.
So what can we do? There is still time to put pressure on our elected officials and let them know that cuts to Medicaid are unacceptable. Here are some ways to take action:
Call your Senators and Representatives and tell them why Medicaid is so important to you and/or your loved ones.
Call your reps at 866-426-2631 and email them through Caring Across Generations’ Protect Medicaid tool.
Join California Alliance for Retired Americans' phone banks every Wednesday, 4 to 5:30pm.
Fight for Our Health hosts daily phone banks targeting Republican districts of California and encouraging residents to call their reps (and you can even patch them through right then and there)!
If you’re interested in getting involved with SDA’s Medicaid organizing through the Long-Term Services and Supports for All Coalition, sign up for Medicaid defense here or email grace@sdaction.org.
And we’re in the streets too! In April, a contingent from the LTSS4All Coalition went to Modesto for the Disability Week of Action to Protect Medicaid and joined Congressman McClintock's constituents to urge the him to vote no on the proposed Medicaid budget cuts. We rallied in solidarity to defend the future of critical programs for people with disabilities, seniors, and domestic workers who rely on Medicaid.
The organizations and individuals who participated in the demonstration made it clear that we must ensure these programs continue to provide the necessary services and support so that people with disabilities and older adults can continue to have alternatives for living in the community.