Anti-worker extremists in Washington forced a federal government shutdown rather than fix the health care crisis they created. All this so they could protect the large tax breaks to billionaires and greedy corporations they passed in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.”
They refuse to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies in the government funding bill, forcing the shutdown. And they gutted Medicaid in their “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Millions of people, including working families in Michigan, will pay the price.
For April Swartout, president of AFSCME Local 916 and a supervisor at the Genesee County Health Department, these cuts aren’t numbers on a budget sheet. They are real lives.
“I’ve been with the county for more than 24 years. I know what happens when families lose access to coverage,” Swartout said.
“If Medicaid goes away or ACA subsidies vanish, people in my community will go without care. Kids won’t get vision screenings or follow-up appointments. Parents working two or three jobs won’t be able to take their children to the doctor. And we’ll see more people end up in emergency rooms because they have nowhere else to go,” Swartout said.
Her department provides critical services like childhood hearing, vision screenings, and immunizations. And it helps enroll families in health coverage.
Medicaid reimbursements are a key piece of her department’s budget that keeps those programs alive. When that funding is cut, it doesn’t just disappear. It means less money for immunizations, fewer resources for children’s health, and longer waiting times for families who already struggle to get care.
This isn’t just about numbers.
It’s about a child in Flint who can’t see the board at school because her family can’t afford glasses.
It’s about a parent forced to choose between paying rent and taking their child to the doctor.
It’s about seniors who rely on programs like Genesee Health Plan, which is already bracing for cuts if more people are dumped off Medicaid.
Meanwhile, the wealthiest corporations and billionaires keep getting tax cuts thanks to this administration and its allies in Congress. Their profits keep going up while working people lose the health care they depend on.
As Swartout put it: “If Medicaid is cut, it means less money for immunizations, fewer resources for children’s health, and more families left with nowhere to turn. Taking away health coverage condemns people to poor health and poverty so billionaires can pocket more. That is greed. Pure and simple.”
AFSCME members like Swartout know what’s at stake because they live it every day. They are the front-line workers protecting the health of our communities, even as the anti-worker extremists take away the resources they need to do their jobs.
For AFSCME members, this government shutdown is a direct threat to our jobs and the public services we provide. States, cities and towns are already facing budget shortfalls and now will lose even more federal funding.
Cutting Medicaid and ACA subsidies doesn’t just hurt the people who rely on them; it hurts every community. It means more strain on local hospitals, more costs pushed onto taxpayers, and more families pushed into crisis.
We cannot allow billionaires and yes-men and women in Congress to take away our freedom to live healthy, secure lives. AFSCME members are urging Congress to urgently lower health care costs, protect federal workers and fund public services. When our jobs and communities are under attack, we have to take a stand.