STATEMENT FROM REV. AL SHARPTON ON THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MEDICARE AND MEDICAID

—

Jul 31, 2025

NEW YORK, NY (July 30, 2025) – Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), issued the following statement on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid.

“Sixty years ago, this nation made a promise. Medicare and Medicaid were not just government programs. They were a lifeline born out of the Civil Rights Movement, signed into law to confront injustice, and meant to ensure that no one would be denied care because of the color of their skin or the size of their wallet. That promise is now being broken.

This Administration has already cut over one trillion dollars from Medicare and Medicaid. These cuts are not theoretical. They’re real. People have already lost coverage. Hospitals are closing. Clinics are stretched beyond capacity. Seniors who paid into the system for decades are being pushed out of the programs they earned.

And let’s be clear: this is not fiscal responsibility. It is intentional cruelty done in suits and ties, through policy and procedure, with deadly consequences. The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill slashed healthcare while handing tax breaks to billionaires. And now, the Department of Health and Human Services is quietly letting states drop people through paperwork traps and red tape.

Who’s being hurt the most? Black and Brown families. Over three million Black Americans have already lost Medicaid. Nearly nine percent of all children in this country have been kicked off, but for Black children, that number is even higher. In some states, it could reach sixty percent. At the same time, working families who rely on the private market are bracing for premium hikes all while corporations rake in record profits.

This is not just a continuation of Trump-era policies. It’s an escalation with a new name, but the same victims.

That’s why, on August 28, we’re marching on Wall Street.

We’re not just marching for healthcare. We’re marching for accountability. We’re marching because a system that takes from the poor and gives to the rich is a system that must be challenged. We’re marching because Wall Street cannot keep profiting off our pain while staying silent about our lives.

You cannot claim neutrality while families are losing care. You cannot ignore this while children are being dropped from coverage. Corporate silence is complicity. We won’t let sixty years of progress be erased. We will fight back. We will speak up. And we will stand together until dignity, decency, and healthcare are not luxuries but guarantees.

Join us.”

About National Action Network (NAN)

National Action Network is one of the leading civil rights organizations in the Nation with chapters throughout the entire United States. Founded in 1991 by Reverend Al Sharpton, NAN works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency, and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, nationality, or gender.

For more information go to www.nationalactionnetwork.net

(http://www.nationalactionnetwork.net/).

###