Protesters raise concerns about Medicaid cuts

About 80 people Monday protested potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid at the corner of Nucleus Avenue and Highway 2 in front of the Hungry Horse News.

At issue is a Republican-led bill in Congress that would potentially increase the work requirement for Medicaid eligibility.

It wasn’t just a protest, however. Organizers from Flathead Democracy, a new non-partisan group in the valley, also collected over the counter medical supplies for the Abby Shelter.

Flathead Democracy has had similar rallies across the Flathead Valley, but it was important to raise awareness on the east side, where many people use Medicare and Medicaid, said Leanette Galaz.

“Our philosophy on organizing is you can’t expect people to come to you,” she said, a reference to simply holding rallies in Kalispell and Whitefish, with their larger populations.

As motorists passed by the busy intersection, many of them honked in support, including rigs that might not be normally associated with supporting rallies like this.

But the issue of health care and affordable health insurance goes across political lines, Galaz noted.

“That’s why I picked this issue for this time and place,” Galaz said.

The cuts are part of a sweeping “big beautiful bill” touted by Republicans and President Donald Trump that slashes many domestic programs while boosting defense spending and extending a 2017 tax cut.

The bill, in its current form, would increase the nation’s $36.2 trillion debt by at least $2.5 trillion over the next decade, according to a story in the Washington Post.

The rally was also obviously meant to send a message to Montana’s congressional delegation, which is all Republican.

But even the big bill has seen cracks in it, as ultraconservatives see it as spending too much and that Medicaid needs more cuts, and moderates worried that cuts to Medicaid and other programs could doom them in mid-term elections.

Still, Galaz said she expected the budget to eventually pass.

For Joan Ehrenberg of Whitefish, Medicaid was crucial for her family when her husband got cancer. They sold all of their possessions save for their house to pay for treatment and the community held a fundraiser to help pay for deductibles.

“(But) if we didn’t have Medicaid we would have lost the house,” she said.