On March 7, 1199SEIU nurses and healthcare workers in purple scrub tops, armed with facts and powerful personal stories, sounded the alarm about the urgent need for Medicaid healthcare expansion with lobby visits to 97 legislators’ offices. The massive day of action, which also showcased the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow, made it clear to the public and elected officials that expanding Medicaid makes economic sense. Healthcare workers repeatedly told their legislators that accepting the $27 billion in federal funding is the right thing to do and a decision against expansion would place political ideology over saving lives and creating jobs.



“I have a son who was born with scoliosis and one kidney. The government does not help him,” said Marie Frage, a CNA at Claridge House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Miami, who was one of a dozen caregivers who shared first-hand stories at a lunchtime rally, which13 legislators also joined. “My husband and I are the ones who pay for his healthcare. Can you imagine being a mother living with a son with one kidney and no health insurance? I want the legislators to help people like us who really need Medicaid.”



The day of enthusiastic lobbying culminated with a heavily-attended press conference that broadcasted the union’s message to legislators to “use your brains, have the courage and heart to expand Medicaid to 1.2 million hardworking Floridians.



Three 1199SEIU members spoke to the press, including Margie Forrest, a registered nurse at Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee who explained, “When patients can’t pay their bill, the hospital has to absorb the cost. What happens then are cuts in staffing. Even those with private insurance are going to experience tightened staffing as we try very hard to deliver the quality care all patients deserve. We cannot afford to turn down $27 billion. Most importantly, we can’t turn our backs on the more than one million hardworking Floridians that could live healthier lives as the result of Medicaid healthcare coverage. We are here to say the nurses and healthcare workers of 1199SEIU Florida have arrived!”