When I think of Medicaid, I think of my grandmother. She died penniless, but she was lucky—because she had Healthy Louisiana, our state’s version of Medicaid. That care, limited as it was, gave her dignity in her final years. 

She was the glue of our family: a wife to two WWII veterans, a caregiver, and even a small-business owner with her sewing shop.

In the end, she needed long-term nursing care. Even with Healthy Louisiana, the system was stretched thin. She shared a room with several other patients. It was a reminder: we are barely providing enough care now. And now they want to cut even more.

The new Republican budget just slashed Medicaid by $1 trillion. In Louisiana, more than 200,000 people could lose coverage under Healthy Louisiana. Many don’t even realize that Medicaid is the coverage they rely on: for themselves, their kids, their aging parents, or their disabled loved ones.

The vast majority of people enrolled in Healthy Louisiana are working families, small business owners, seniors, or people in need. They’re not freeloaders. And their coverage iss not a check in the mail. Instead, it reimburses hospitals and clinics for care already provided.

Yet leaders like Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise, Julia Letlow, Bill Cassidy, and John Kennedy are spreading myths about widespread fraud and “able-bodied people abusing the system.” The truth? Healthy people don’t cost Medicaid anything. Sick people do. Cutting this means fewer surgeries, prescriptions, and nursing beds—while billionaires and large corporations get permanent tax cuts.

Rural Louisiana will suffer most. Across our state, 33 rural hospitals are now at risk of closing. These hospitals operate on razor-thin margins and often serve communities where public coverage is the only option. If these hospitals close, everyone—including those with private insurance—will face higher costs, longer drives, and overcrowded emergency rooms.

And when people can’t access regular care, they wait until their condition worsens, then show up at the emergency room. By law, hospitals must treat them. But in the ER, which must stay open round-the-clock, care costs ten times more, driving everyone’s premiums up.

This is bad for public health. It’s bad for our economy. And it’s just plain wrong.

Healthy Louisiana is a direct investment in our people. It supports jobs, clinics, hospitals, and better health outcomes across the state. And the truth is, we should be expanding it. Every other developed country guarantees healthcare, often with better outcomes, longer lives, and lower costs—because they take the profit motive out of the system.

So why is this happening?

Because this isn’t just about one program. It’s about dismantling every public service we rely on—Healthy Louisiana, Medicare, Social Security—so that corporations can own it, control it, and profit from it. The GOP wants to privatize it all.

We’ve worked our whole lives in the richest country in history. All we’re asking for is dignity in health.

Say it with me: No more. We want change. 

Dustin Granger is a former candidate for Louisiana state treasurer.