WASHINGTON D.C. (July 30, 2025) – Today, Senator Ben Ray Luján alongside Senators Chuck Schumer, Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley and Jeanne Shaheen introduced a bill aiming to cancel the massive cuts to Medicaid included in the budget bill.
These cuts threaten the health and well-being of millions of families, caregivers, disabled people, children, and older adults across the country. Their repeal is not just a policy correction — it’s a moral imperative. Over the past week, during our 60-hour vigil honoring Medicaid’s 60th anniversary and the Families First rallies in over 225 cities across the country, thousands of families let their faces be seen and voices be heard. They came out to show lawmakers who voted for these cuts that there are real people that will be affected and already are being affected. People they were elected to protect, serve and support. These families represent the 80 million Americans who rely on Medicaid and the 17 million who will be directly impacted by these cuts. They came out to tell Congress loud and clear: cancel these devastating cuts to Medicaid.
State legislatures are already calling special sessions to deal with these devastating cuts. There is no doubt the pain that these cuts would cause — from rural hospital closures, increasing workforce shortages, and growing waiting lists for home and community-based care.
Families across the country are already feeling the effects — from difficulty finding affordable child care to worrying about how to pay for a parent’s medication. Congress must act. Caring Across Generations is encouraged by the bipartisan opposition to these harmful cuts and implores full congressional action to reverse these attacks on Medicaid. Medicaid has stood strong for 60 years and now it’s time to protect it, restore what’s been taken, and strengthen the program to meet the needs of the next 60 years.
In response to the bill’s introduction, Nicole Jorwic, Chief Program Officer at Caring Across Generations, was joined by Caring Across Generations Care Fellow, Community Health Worker, and advocate, Cassenda Nelson from Georgia to share their stories in Washington D.C.
Below is a quote from Nicole Jorwic:
“I am honored to be here today on Medicare and Medicaid’s 60th birthday and with these leaders who are doing what we need – fighting back against devastating cuts to Medicaid. I know that is what we need, because I am coming off our 60-hour vigil that Caring Across Generations put on with our partners last week honoring 60 years of Medicaid and fighting back against the cuts. That continued over the weekend where we had tens of thousands of people come together for the Families First rallies to say, enough is enough. During the Families First events in D.C. and in more than 225 cities, towns and hamlets across the country, thousands of families came out for one purpose: putting our families first. And that means canceling the cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
“Those who attended, who spelled out ‘familia’ on the beach in San Francisco, who rode in a Medicaid motorcade across Indiana, and gathered on the National Mall, believe that no matter what, every family deserves to be cared for. Every child deserves health coverage. Every grandparent deserves to have assistance as they need it. Every disabled person deserves the opportunities to reach their full potential, and every caregiver deserves to see a doctor when they’re sick.”
Below is a quote from Cassenda Nelson:
“Cuts to Medicaid aren’t just budget decisions, they’re decisions about whether people like my daughter get the insulin she needs. Whether our neighbors get mental health support after a crisis. Whether communities like mine in Georgia get a chance to breathe, to heal, to live.
“I’ve walked families through the confusion of paperwork, the frustration of denied coverage, and the fear of going without. And every time I advocate, I think about how many more stories go unheard.
“I’m here to say: we exist. And we matter.”
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Caring Across Generations is a national organization of family caregivers, care workers, disabled people, and aging adults working to transform the way we care in this country so that care is accessible, affordable and equitable— and our systems of care enable everyone to live, work, and age with dignity.
To achieve our vision, we transform cultural norms and narratives about aging, disability and care; win federal and state-level policies; and build power amongst the people touched by care. For more information, visit caringacross.org.