By Lucy Diavolo and Michelle Morris
T
hese past months, National Nurses United (NNU)
nurses have been busy fighting to stop $880 billion in
cuts to Medicaid through actions and education. On
March 12, NNU joined Mobilize to Save Our Health
Care to march in Washington, D.C. The following day,
NNU hosted an educational webinar about fighting
back against massive Medicaid cuts. Speakers included NNU Pres-
ident Cathy Kennedy, RN, and AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler, as
well as Vinay Krishnan, national field organizer for Popular Democ-
racy, and Jamila Headley, executive director of Be A Hero, two
groups also involved with the march.
Longtime champions of health care as a human right and Medi-
care for All, NNU nurses say funding for programs like Medicaid
and Medicare is critical to patient care across the country and that
budget cuts are a direct attack on patients nationwide. According to
2023 data, more than one in five people in the U.S. had health care
coverage funded by Medicaid that year. In states like California,
New York, West Virginia, and Louisiana, more than one in four
people were covered under Medicaid in 2023.
"Medicaid protects tens of millions of patients, and nurses care
for them every day. Taking away their health care is deadly," said
Nancy Hagans, RN and NNU president. "This is an attack on chil-
dren, on seniors, on patients who are pregnant or have
disabilities—it is an attack on millions of our patients. We need to
expand health care, not destroy it."
"This is a knife in the back for people across the country, from
the biggest city to the quietest backroad," said NNU Vice Pres-
ident Diane McClure, RN, who spoke at the rally in Washington,
D.C. "Cuts across HHS will defund hospitals and shut down care
facilities. Medicaid keeps people alive, including through its
recent expansion. Gutting one of the largest sources of health
22 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 5
Nurses fight to
RNs march in Washington, D.C., protest at members of Congress' offices
