Rally held outside Rep. Issa's Santee office in support of Medicaid
SANTEE, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A rally was held outside Rep. Darrell Issa's office in Santee Wednesday to protest potential cuts to Medicaid funding.
The demonstrators aimed to persuade Issa to oppose up to $880 billion in cuts to health care programs like Medicaid proposed as part of Congress' budget reconciliation.
'Medicaid funding is an umbrella to so many of our local supports and services that people depend on for their lives and for their life quality,' said Diana Pastora Carson with Disability Voices United.
Organizers of the rally emphasized that the proposed cuts could disrupt critical care the millions of people on Medicaid who have physical and mental disabilities.
Angela Van Austin, a teacher from Santee who uses Medicaid, said, 'My ability to do what I want and volunteer in the community and do things in the community, teach in the community is all reliant on these services that I use.'
The protest was part of a broader statewide effort to draw attention to the nine Republican members of Congress from California who previously voted to advance a plan that opened up the door to steep Medicaid cuts.
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