President Bush's latest budget proposal cuts Medicare and Medicaid by over $196.2 billion dollars. These cuts would be disaster. Most days we're already swamped, and if staffing shortages get even worse it will be impossible to provide the care our patients deserve. Not to mention the thousands of seniors, children and working families who would be denied care altogether if these cuts go through!
 
So we're launching an emergency petition drive asking Congress to stop these healthcare cuts once and for all. We'll deliver our petition directly to Congress.
 
You should also know that there’s bipartisan effort already underway, led by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) to reverse these proposed cuts to care for children, seniors, and those living with disabilities.

President Bush's attempts to slide through massive cuts to our systems of care are a perfect example of why caregivers like us need to be involved. Bush's cuts would:

• Cut seniors off from access to medical care - by reducing Medicare payments by more than 178.2 billion over the next five years. This is far beyond the level that experts believe is safe for seniors, because caregivers may have to reduce their services to seniors or stop providing care to Medicare patients altogether (1).
• Dramatically worsen the nursing shortage by slashing funds for training by nearly 30%, at a time when our national nursing shortage makes us spend less and less time with each patient (2).
• Force low-income children out of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), leaving families facing a crisis with the awful choice between financial ruin and their children's health (3).

But this doesn't have to happen. If you sign this urgent petition to Congress and ask every other person you work with to do the same, we can show Congress that the people who know health care in America know these cuts are a terrible idea.

Add You Voice, Sign Our Petition to Stop These Cuts!