Today is National Nurses Day. I want to take a moment to appreciate all the hardworking nurses in Northwest Washington. They have given so much. Every day, our nurses work on the front lines of health care, excruciatingly long hours, to take care of all of us. Nurses are an essential part of ensuring we all have access to health care.

Right now, nurses and medical professionals nationwide are at the frontlines of the fight for quality, affordable patient care, and health education. Medical disinformation, budget cuts, and attacks on reproductive freedom all complicate an already challenging job. Now, under the Trump administration and his Republican Rip-Off, Medicaid is under threat. Medicaid plays a crucial role in Washington. Medicaid provides health coverage to 1.5 million Washingtonians, 20.3% of all Washingtonians. This is a breakdown of who relies on Medicaid for health coverage in Washington:

• 38.3% of all children
• 35% of moms giving birth and their newborn babies
• 39.8% of working-age adults with disabilities
• 59% of people living in nursing homes
• 15% of Medicare beneficiaries
• 16.1% of adults aged 19-64

These indiscriminate budget cuts on Medicaid will impact health care providers, force doors to close, and impact nurses in Washington:

• Washington hospitals received $828.8 million in Medicaid payments in 2023, including $418.7 million in Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) and other supplemental payments that help to offset uncompensated care for Medicaid patients and the uninsured
• Washington mental health facilities, nursing facilities, and intermediate care facilities for people with disabilities received nearly $1.2 billion in Medicaid payments in 2023.

On this National Nurses Day, it is important to recognize all the hard work nurses put in for our community, and push back against this administration and their budget cuts that will negatively impact health care all over Washington.

More soon,

Rick