Activists and politicians gathered in the West Capitol Park in Albany to urge lawmakers to protect and extend Medicare and Medicaid.
On the 61st anniversary of the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid, advocates rallied to condemn the Trump administration's cuts to the public healthcare programs.
Signed into law last year, President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut about $1 trillion of federal health spending over the next decade.
Speakers also urged both federal and state representatives to implement a single-payer universal healthcare system. In particular, they called for New York State legislators to support the New York Health Act, which would establish single-payer healthcare for all citizens of the state.
Eduardo Hernandez, lead campaign coordinator with Citizen Action of New York, called on elected officials to prioritize their constituents' health over profits.
"So what we want is to improve, get us back to a point where we have a solid foundation to be able to move in to provide healthcare for everyone," said Hernandez. "Because we do believe that healthcare is a fundamental, basic human right, and not something that you can have if you can afford it."