AFSCME Members Rally Against Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and More

AFSCME Members Rally Against Cuts to Essential Programs

Across the nation, AFSCME retirees and active members have mobilized to challenge lawmakers who supported the controversial Big Beautiful Bill. Their focus is to prevent further reductions in critical services like child care, Medicare, Medicaid, and public education.

During the congressional break, these protests were organized in various districts, coinciding with the return of House members to their local areas. The proposed cuts, reflecting initiatives from President Donald Trump, have raised significant concerns.

Mary Cannon-James, president of AFSCME Iowa Retiree Chapter 61, expressed the urgency of the situation: “This isn’t politics to people like me — it’s survival. I worked my whole life, paid into Social Security and Medicare every single paycheck, and now politicians in Washington want to gut the very programs we earned while costs keep rising on everything from prescriptions to groceries.”

Cannon-James directed her remarks towards Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a supporter of the Big Beautiful Bill. She, along with other AFSCME members, questioned whether lawmakers will oppose Trump’s latest budget proposal, which critics claim favors the wealthy at the expense of working families.

The impact of these policy changes is already significant. Three million individuals have lost benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) following the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Furthermore, over one million people have been unable to enroll in health coverage via the Affordable Care Act marketplaces since subsidies expired. The bill also proposes a $1 trillion reduction in Medicaid over a decade, prioritizing tax reliefs for billionaires.

Sue Conard, president of AFSCME Wisconsin Retiree Chapter 32, highlighted the struggles faced by Wisconsinites: “In communities across Wisconsin, people are doing everything right and still struggling to get by. We are all stretched thin, so cutting Medicare and Medicaid in the middle of an affordability crisis is cruel.”

Echoing these sentiments in Arizona, Arlene Muniz from AFSCME Retiree Chapter 97 remarked, “While working Americans are stressed from trying to hold it all together, Donald Trump is saying that the federal government ‘can’t be funding day care, Medicare, Medicaid,’ and his latest budget follows through on those threats.”

These AFSCME members are actively organizing to resist these changes and encourage others to join their cause.