By skyforbes 
Leroy Johnson, a St. John’s patient perhaps most eager to follow the doctor’s directions at any given time, was wounded in combat during his military service in Vietnam. He was stationed in Saigon at the time and, without adequate health care and pain medication, he became addicted to heroin. Leroy went on to overcome his addiction upon his return to the United States in 1973. Unfortunately, both his gunshot wounds and the long term effects of his drug use left him with multiple, lasting physical disabilities.
Since returning from active duty, he’s worked at a garment factory, making minimum wage to support his wife and family. He’s an active member of his church, has managed to put both of his sons through college, and is now a proud grandfather of two. His employer doesn’t provide health insurance, but his income qualifies him for both Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Both programs ensure that he and his family have access to health care and food on the table.
The budget released by the White House this week leaves folks like Leroy and the families they support without a safety net, cutting critical social programs for the poor, like SNAP and Medicaid, that Leroy and other low-income Americans depend on. After signing into law a huge tax break for some of the wealthiest Americans and multinational corporations in history, the Trump administration is facing a large budget deficit. Their response? Denying Americans the programs they’ve paid into with every dollar they’ve earned, every wound they endured, as they’ve worked to contribute to the safety net our country’s economy and international security.
Just when we thought that plans to destroy the War on Poverty’s most successful federal programs were over, the Trump administration has sounded the battle cry once again. In his first year alone, alongside a complicit, Republican-led Congress, this administration has already voted numerous times to repeal the Medicaid expansion — a key part of the Affordable Care Act. And each time they’ve failed.
When the congressional Republicans tried to eliminate Medicaid as a federal program altogether, they were met with resistance from even their own Republican colleagues. Whether a moral decision or not, the devastation it would cause to urban and rural communities across America alone is enough political motivation to protect the thousands of Americans who rely on Medicaid for their access to care. Yet without shame, Trump and his callous, cold-hearted administration are continuing to attack the people who need our help the most.
Every day, St. John’s Well Child and Family Center provides health care services to thousands of low-income individuals in South Los Angeles — the largest area of contiguous poverty in the continental United States. Of the 100,000 patients we serve each year, over 40,000 are covered by Medicaid. Trump’s plan would immediately eliminate Medicaid for 20,000 of those patients — mostly low-income adults, and then deviously scale back benefits for the remaining Medicaid beneficiaries — children, seniors and people with disabilities — until the program ceases to exist in a meaningful way.
We must not abandon veterans like Leroy, who have worked hard all their lives. We cannot allow Trump to steal from the poor and middle class, funneling money to the rich in a perverted, reverse Robin Hood tragedy. We must find compassion for the tens of millions of hard working Americans who contribute to this country in so many ways every single day.
The most dangerous action that Americans can take right now is to do nothing. By sitting still and failing to stand up for what is right, we collectively perpetuate injustice as an apathetic, assimilated body. What we’ve learned from fighting to save the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid over the course of the last year is that not only is resistance valuable — it’s imperative to the continued fight for social, racial, and economic justice.