By skyforbes 
On this day in 1965, President Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law.
For over fifty years, it has served as a lifeline for those who need health care at the time in their life when they need it most. Now, Republicans are looking to cut these critical programs relied on by millions of Americans to make up for the $2 trillion they gave away in tax cuts to the wealthy and special interests.
Cutting Medicare and Medicaid would be especially devastating to New Mexico, where more than 1 million people — half of all households in the state — rely on these programs to get the health care they need.
It’s not hard to find someone whose life has been improved by Medicaid or Medicare. During the fight to stop the Affordable Care Act repeal, I heard from thousands of New Mexicans telling me their health care stories — many about the importance of Medicare and Medicaid.
I heard from a man in Española who works at a rural medical center. Repealing the ACA and Medicaid expansion would have cost his medical center 30 percent of its funding. Without Medicaid, emergency room visits, overdoses, and crime rates would all go up — and patients would suffer.
I also heard from a woman in Albuquerque who has only been able to get access to the treatments she needs through Medicaid. She has three chronic, progressive conditions, but Medicaid has allowed her to afford treatments and continue living her life without going into debt.
I heard from another woman in Las Cruces, who was struggling after a stroke left her unable to work and afford health care. She reached out to my office and together, we got her enrolled in Medicaid so she could access the treatment she needed.
This is what’s on the line when Republicans talk about cutting Medicare and Medicaid. Without a ‘safety net’, people fall.
I know how critical Medicaid and Medicare are to New Mexicans. I saw how helpful Medicare was for my own parents. We need to take what we already know is working and build on that to expand access to quality and affordable health care for all Americans. I co-sponsored a bill to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, a no brainer that will lower the costs of prescription drugs for seniors. I’m also fighting any efforts to cut Medicaid funding, which is leading the fight in New Mexico against the opioid crisis and accounted for 30 percent of life-saving treatment payments for addiction.
I’m fighting for the care New Mexicans need — stand with me.
