BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Local nurses with the California Nurses Association held a town hall meeting Thursday night at the Martin Luther King Community Center to protest recent federal budget cuts they say could strip health insurance from millions of Californians.
The event was organized in response to the federal budget bill signed by President Trump in July, which critics say cuts over $900 billion from Medicaid and could leave more than 3 million Californians without health insurance.
"In this area, we have a high amount of medicaid recipients, which is medical, and we want to make sure our communities are healthy, in order to do that, they have to have access to prevent healthcare and also access to healthcare of they get sick," said Sandy Reding, president of the California Nurses Association.
Reding was one of several speakers at the event discussing how the Central Valley can fight back against the cuts.
"Nurses believe that health care is a human right, we also believe that we should just have an expanded, improved Medicare for all," Reding said.
The nurses criticized Congressman David Valadao, who represents California's 22nd District — the House district with the highest share of Medicaid recipients — for voting in favor of the bill. According to the nurses, the legislation could cut coverage for 65,000 of his own constituents.
"So many people in the San Joaquin Valley are going to be cut with this bill, 7 out of 10 are medicaid recipients," Reding said.
The town hall is part of a national union bus tour pushing back on corporate tax breaks and calling for stronger protections for working families.
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