Alaskans call for senators to take ‘hands off Medicaid’

As a bill increasing Medicaid provisions was discussed in the U.S. Senate on Friday, about 30 demonstrators gathered in the rain outside Alaska’s senators’ offices in Juneau, centering personal stories in their critique of the bill.

One demonstrator, Megan Lingle recalled when, at 11 years old, her father suffered a massive heart attack.

“If it wasn’t for Medicaid, we would not have been able to pay for the debt that incurred with those medical expenses, and it gave us an additional eight years with him,” she said in an interview.

Lingle wrote her story on a card. The card was taped on a board alongside the stories of others who have relied on Medicaid.

This collection of testimonials, along with postcards written by the demonstrators, were slated to be delivered to U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Friday’s demonstration was organized by the Alaska State Employees Association (ASEA) and Protect Our Care, a nationwide public health advocacy group. According to Amber Lee, state director of Protect Our Care, the organization held Medicaid demonstrations in Juneau, Ketchikan, Anchorage, Wasilla, Soldotna, and Fairbanks.

President Donald Trump’s budget bill, which he calls “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 22. The Senate on Saturday voted to begin debate on the legislation. Both Sullivan and Murkowski voted in favor of debate. Alaska-specific carve-outs, possibly buffering the some impacts of the bill, were added to a version of the bill shortly before the vote.

The bill encompasses a variety of policy changes, including changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which have sparked anxiety among many Alaskans.

In downtown Juneau, demonstrators stood with their backs to the senators’ offices, instead facing an island in the middle of the street where speakers used a megaphone to share the importance of Medicaid in their lives, sometimes pausing as cars on Glacier Avenue drove between the crowd and the speakers. After each speaker, demonstrators return to chants of “hands off Medicaid.”

“Despite the public outcry and the severe harm that this big, ugly bill will cause regular Alaskans, Congress is still considering massive cuts to Medicaid, and why is that? To fund billionaire tax cuts,” said Heidi Drygas, executive director of ASEA.

Other demonstrators expressed frustration that cuts to Medicaid and other social services would offset tax breaks they claim will disproportionately benefit the wealthy.

Kai Monture, with nonprofit Native Movement, predicted cuts to Medicaid will fall hard on rural Alaskan communities.

“The proposed 80-hour monthly work requirement would strip coverage from an estimated 28,000 Alaskans, ignoring the reality of our seasonal economy and limited job opportunities in remote communities,” Monture said. “Requiring eligibility verification every six months, instead of annually, will create insurmountable obstacles for rural and Indigenous communities where mail delivery is unreliable, internet access is limited, and enrollment centers may be hundreds of miles away.”

Some demonstrators worried the new provisions would impact the employment of hundreds of front-line workers represented by ASEA.

“It’s hard to understate the impact these cuts will have,” Drygas said. “It will certainly have an impact on our workforce and could lead to the loss of jobs, but maybe even more importantly, it will impact tens of thousands of Alaskan families.”

Juneau resident Aaron Brakel also addressed the crowd about the potential impact of changes on the community at large.

“When we think about what will happen when the federal government cuts off this incredible amount of key health care funding, it’s also money that provides stability for our communities in terms of the ability to provide services and, honestly, employment, in addition to the threat to the vulnerable in our communities and half of the children in our state,” Brakel said. “Medicaid is actually the backbone of funding for our medical system.”

An updated version of the bill, released early Saturday morning, includes some provisions specific to Alaska and rural communities.

On Sunday, the Senate parliamentarian determined the special Alaska provisions broke Senate rules and, therefore, will likely have to be dropped.

As of Sunday afternoon, Lee, the state director of Protect Our Care, feared the carve-outs would convince Alaska senators to vote for the bill, although the changes to Medicaid policy would remain detrimental to Alaskans.

“It’s still going to have a terrible impact on our state,” Lee said. “I know it’ll still impact our hospital system. People are still going to lose their health care. It’s just not enough, and the bottom line is they’re still making access to health care more difficult in order to give tax breaks to billionaires that are outside of Alaska.”

• Contact Natalie Buttner at natalie.buttner@juneauempire.com.