Code Red
A National Pause to Save Medicaid
When: Monday, June 30, 2025 — 12:30 p.m. Local Time
At 12:30 p.m. (local time) on Monday, June 30, physicians and health professionals across the country will pause for 10–15 minutes to protest the devastating Medicaid cuts in HR 1.
Take a pause in your white coat. Stand with your colleagues.
Sound the alarm to save lives and Medicaid.
This action is for everyone who cares. We’re asking doctors and healthcare professionals to show up for their patients. Even silently. Even briefly. Together. A picture of 20 white coats outside a hospital or clinics with signs saying ‘Medicaid Saves Lives’ tells a story in itself. And that’s the story we need right now, to help amplify the efforts we’ve been pushing folks to do to send in stories and why this would affect care.
This is a grassroots, coordinated, symbolic action — not a strike — to show Congress that Medicaid cuts are a Code Red for America.
Why Now
Congress is advancing HR 1, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes over $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid and threatens coverage for 13+ million Americans. If passed, the bill would:
- Cut over $900 billion from Medicaid
- Strip coverage from 13+ million Americans
- Close rural hospitals, clinics, and critical access providers
- Disrupt care for children, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities
- Jeopardize the entire U.S. health system by overloading ERs, spiking uncompensated care, and threatening the survival of our already stretched-thin safety net
With Congress aiming to finalize the bill before the July 4 recess, this is our critical moment to be seen and heard. This is not a drill. Our patients are in crisis. We must act.
What is Code Red?
On Monday, June 30, physicians and health professionals across the country will take part in Code Red: A National Pause to Save Medicaid — a coordinated, 10–15 minute pause to sound the alarm about the devastating consequences of proposed Medicaid cuts in the federal budget bill (HR 1).
This is a safe, nonpartisan, grassroots action to show how these cuts would hurt patients, especially those already facing barriers to care. We’re not walking off the job — we’re stepping up for our patients and communities.
We’re taking a brief but powerful stand to remind lawmakers what’s really at stake: access to care, the future of our safety net, and the lives of millions.
What Happens During the Pause
At 12:30 p.m. local time on June 30, physicians across the country will:
- Pause for 10–15 minutes — If you’re able to, step outside your clinic, hospital, or high traffic areas such as state capitols, public parks. We encourage you to gather with other physicians and healthcare professionals as well to do this action together. If you can’t step out, then we encourage a sit-in or a pause wherever you are so you can still participate!
- Wear white coats or scrubs and stand in solidarity
- Hold signs that highlight the real risks of Medicaid Cuts
- Take 1 minute of silence, or Read the “Code Red Call” aloud or lead your group in a Code Call Chant
- Take a group photo and share it online with
#SaveMedicaid | #StopHR1 | #CodeRed | #CodeRedForMedicaid
If you cannot take a 15 minute pause, we still encourage you to participate by posting on social media to protect Medicaid. You an find more social media resources here.
This is a safe and symbolic form of protest — not a strike. It’s a public, physician-led act of conscience. It honors our oath to patients, not partisan politics.
How to Join or Organize a Pause
- Tell your colleagues. Organize your site. Make a sign.
- Show up in your white coat. Take a stand.
- Partner with local media to let amplify the message.
- Share what you’re doing on Social Media.
If you have any questions, please enter the question and your information into our form to contact our volunteer organizers and we will get back to you. bit.ly/CodeRedPause
Together, we can stop this bill. Together, we can save lives.
We are sounding the alarm. Join us for Code Red: A National Pause to Save Medicaid.
Unity Break / Pause Structure
1. Step Out (if safe)
- Physicians and healthcare professionals step outside their clinic or hospital, or organize a group to go to your state capitol or outside a public office. Public spaces are recommended.
- If you cannot step out safely, we recommend taking a pause wherever you can. We prefer visible spaces as the goal is to help show our solidarity over this important issue.
- Everyone wears white coats, scrubs, or symbolic red (tie, pin, stethoscope).
2. Hold Signs or Symbolic Gestures
Examples:
- “CODE RED: Patients in Crisis”
- “Medicaid Saves Lives”
- “This is what a Medicaid doctor looks like.”
- “I treat [#] Medicaid patients a day. This bill would end that.”
- Red tape over mouths to symbolize silencing care
- “Patient in crisis: Medicaid. Location: America.”
3. 1-Minute Moment of Silence and/or “Code Call”
- In honor of the patients and communities who will lose access to care
- Or lead with a “Code Call” — someone reads out a statement (example below)
- If you have a group, you can engage in a “Code Chant”
4. Read a “Code Call” Aloud (1–2 min) – feel free to make one of your own!
“Code Red. America’s safety net is flatlining.
HR 1 would gut Medicaid, cut over $900 billion in care, and take health coverage from more than 13 million people.
Rural hospitals will close. Maternity wards will vanish. Behavioral health care will be slashed.
We are physicians. We are healers. And today, we are the alarm.
We step out not to abandon our duty — but to honor it.
We are here for our patients — For the child with asthma, the new mother needing prenatal care, the grandparent in a nursing home, the person struggling with mental illness.
Medicaid is not a line item. It is a lifeline.
This is not a drill. This is a Code Red.
Congress must stop HR 1.”
5. Take and Post a Group Photo
Tag with:
- #CodeRedForCare
- #SaveMedicaid
Optional Add-ons
- Press availability: Local leaders/physicians take questions after and/or explain why medicaid is so important
Invite community partners (nurses, patients, med students) - Write an Op-Ed and get it published
Want a Call-and-Response Chant Option?
Leader: “Code Red!”
Group: “Code Red!”
Leader: “Who is the patient?”
Group: “Medicaid!”
Leader: “What is the status?”
Group: “Critical!”
Leader: “Who do we stand for?”
Group: “Our patients!”
Leader: “What do we demand?”
Group: “Stop HR 1!”
All together: “Doctors sound the alarm. America’s safety net is flatlining.”
CODE RED!
SAVE MEDICAID!
CODE RED!
STOP HR 1!