🚨 Medicaid Cuts Pass the Senate, But Our Fight Continues 🚨

Dear siblings, 

Last week, our fellow SEIU Healthcare 1199NW member Lori Mitchell, RN from Logan Health in Kalispell, Montana, was in Washington, D.C. with SEIU members from across the country. They met with — and sometimes confronted — U.S. Senators to demand protection for Medicaid funding and to make it clear that for millions of people, this is truly a matter of life and death.

As you know, the U.S. Senate passed their Big Bad Bill this week, but our union made what they thought would be an easy task, very difficult. This fight is far from over. They’ve traded our health for their wealth, and we see through their lies. We won’t forget. 

Here in Washington State and Montana, we know what’s at stake. Cuts to Medicaid funding threaten the hospitals and clinics where we work, the patients we care for, and the communities we love. Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Rep. Michael Baumgartner (WA-05), from Central Washington and Eastern Washington, voted to slash care when the bill passed the House. As of this afternoon, it’s not too late to call them and demand that they vote No when the “steal-from-the-poor-to-reward-the-rich” bill comes up for a final vote in the House. 

Rep. Newhouse’s Yakima District Office
(509) 452-3243

Rep. Baumgartner’s Spokane District Office
(509) 353-2374

There’s nothing beautiful about a budget that rips healthcare away from millions of working families. Under this budget, 17 million people will lose healthcare coverage, leaving low-income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities without the care they need. 

This is an attack on everything we believe in: healthcare, dignity, justice, and community. But they will not silence us. We are not backing down. We are just getting started.

We believe in healthcare justice, and justice for all working people, where every family is safe and has access to the care they need.

In solidarity,

Jane Hopkins, RN
President, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW