WASHINGTON — Four days after the Senate passed a House GOP bill to continue funding the federal government, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., kicked off a "Medicaid Day of Action" on Tuesday to call attention to expected deep cuts to the federal program that provides health care to 70 million low-income Americans. 

What You Need To Know

  • House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., kicked off a "Medicaid Day of Action" on Tuesday to call attention to a potential $880 billion cut to the federal program that provides healthcare to 70 million low-income Americans

  • The action comes four days after the Senate passed a House GOP bill to continue funding the federal government

  • The House budget blueprint does not explicitly call for cuts to Medicaid, but 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.

  • The Medicaid Day of Action includes site visits to health care providers, town hall meetings, press conferences and interactions with constituents to call attention to the issue

“Republicans have proposed the largest Medicaid cut in American history,” Jeffries said at a nonprofit health clinic in Brooklyn, New York, which was attended by health care providers and Medicaid recipients. “It will devastate children, families, people with disabilities, older Americans, women and everyday Americans in this community, in the city of New York and across the country.”

It’s a message Jeffries and other House Democrats have been working to drive home ever since late February, when House Republicans first approved a budget blueprint that includes $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts. Although it does not explicitly call for cuts to Medicaid, it instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the program, 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.

Calling the proposed Medicaid cuts “inhumane,” Jeffries said saving the program is a matter of life and death. 

Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said the Medicaid cuts will affect 500,000 people in her district alone, including 65,000 seniors, 85,000 parents, 11,000 pregnant women, 149,000 children and 24,000 disabled children and adults.

“House Democrats will use every tool at our disposal to stop this devastating scheme,” Clarke said Tuesday at one of several events House Democrats are leading. They include site visits to health care providers, town hall meetings, news conferences and interactions with their constituents to call attention to the issue. 

“This is going to impact all Americans," Clarke said. "The cascading effect of cutting $880 billion out of health care will not only mean a threat to our health and well-being. It will mean higher unemployment. It will mean the closure of hospitals and federally qualified health institutions within our communities. It will mean devastation at every turn.”

Saying health is a bipartisan issue, she called on all Americans to stand up for their neighbors, family members and co-workers to support Medicaid.

“Whether you’re a Republican or you’re a Democrat,” she said, “without your health, nothing else matters.”

Correction: Rep. Yvette Clarke's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this article.