More than a dozen health care employees stood across from MetroHealth Medical Center on West 25th Street in Cleveland Monday afternoon to protest a proposed trillion dollar cut to Medicaid in the federal budget.
The protesters joined doctors and nurses around the country in a national 15 minute work pause to object to the cuts contained in the budget bill passed by the U.S. House in May and being considered by the U.S. Senate now.
Protesters said the Medicaid cuts, if approved, could devastate safety-net hospitals like MetroHealth and eliminate health insurance for about 16 million Americans.
Dr. Christine Alexander-Rager, MetroHealth's president and CEO, penned an editorial last week sharing how proposed cuts would impact lifesaving and chronic care to low-income patients and communities in Cleveland.
Hospital staff and community leaders also plan to gather at Cleveland’s Willard Park Tuesday morning for a news conference to highlight the impact of Medicaid cuts on local services and health care access, according to organizers with the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
