WASHINGTON — One day after House Republicans passed a funding stopgap to prevent a possible government shutdown at the end of the week, Medicaid advocates gathered on Capitol Hill for a "Save Our Healthcare" march and rally.

The Republican bill would keep spending levels roughly the same as last year but does not include protections for Medicaid — the federal program that provides health care to 70 million Americans. 

What You Need To Know

  • Medicaid advocates gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a "Save Our Healthcare" rally

  • Several Democratic congressional leaders attended the event, including House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

  • In February, House Republicans narrowly approved a budget resolution that includes $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts

  • Some policy analysts, advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers argue it is implausible that House Republicans could hit their goals without major Medicaid cuts

  • “You are the power,” Pelosi told rallygoers

“In just over a few weeks, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have taken a chainsaw to our health care system. They want to cut Medicaid. They are selling out your care to pay for tax breaks for billionaires,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said from a stage where the backdrop read, “No Cuts to Medicaid!” and a podium sign said, “Medicaid Saves Lives.”

Markey said Trump, Musk and congressional Republicans are pushing a "Make America sick again" campaign.

In February, House Republicans narrowly approved a budget resolution that would include $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts. Although the resolution does not explicitly call for cuts to Medicaid, it instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to reduce the federal deficit by at least $880 billion over 10 years. Some policy analysts, advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers argue it is implausible that House Republicans could reach that goal without major Medicaid cuts.

“I have colleagues who say the proposal doesn’t have the word 'Medicaid' in it. We ain’t stupid,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said at the rally. “We’re going to fight to save lives. We’re going to fight against corporations. We are going to fight against corporate greed.”

At a high-energy event attended by hundreds of people who frequently broke into chants of “Health care is a human right” and held signs that read “Healthcare belongs to all” and “reproductive freedom for all,” multiple Medicaid recipients took the stage to share their stories of how the health care program had helped them.

“You are the power,” House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told the rallygoers. “We can do only so much without outside mobilization, so know the power of you.”

Staunchly opposed by House Democrats, the stopgap bill House Republicans passed Tuesday was “disgraceful, was harmful. It was deadly for some people,” Pelosi said. “We work very hard listening to you, deciding on priorities, writing language that serves the needs of the people. And we can only go so far. Without the outside mobilization, we cannot succeed.”