GREENFIELD — To honor the legacy of civil rights activist and politician John Lewis on the fifth anniversary of his death in 2020, 160 people gathered on the Greenfield Common to join the “Good Trouble Lives On” rallies taking place across Massachusetts and the United States on Thursday.

The rally, organized by Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution, combined the tribute to Lewis with a show of support for rural hospitals amid the passage of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cut bill, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” This bill included the most significant cuts to Medicaid in the program’s history, which are estimated to remove 11.8 million people from the program nationwide by 2034, including 250,000 enrollees in Massachusetts through MassHealth.

Similar to previous rallies and protests organized by Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution this year, the focus of signs and messaging varied from the protection of democracy to the value of immigration, along with signs quoting Lewis and advocating for the protection of public insurance and Medicare for All.

The rally kicked off with speeches from Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution Coordinating Committee members David Cohen and Susan Triolo. Cohen, who also serves as co-chair of Mass-Care, addressed the Medicaid cuts and the value of a Medicare for All structure, while Triolo spoke to Lewis’ legacy that continues through activism.

“What I want to share with you is a message that John talked about his entire life,” Triolo said, “that this work that we are doing is not the work of a day, a week, a month or a year. It is the work of a lifetime, and many of us have been working on this for our entire lives.”

The rally touched on many issues, but at its center was concern over the impacts of Medicaid cuts and the future of Baystate Franklin Medical Center. In his speech, Cohen discussed the impacts of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” saying it could be a “catastrophe” for Massachusetts. He noted that the addition of work requirements the bill entails could be “really onerous” for those on Medicaid.

In Franklin County and parts of the North Quabbin region, nearly half of those insured rely on public health insurance, including Medicaid, at 48.3% — more than 10% above the state average of 38.1%, according to the Massachusetts Health Data Community Report provided via the state Department of Public Health. With the passage of Trump’s bill, Medicaid users who no longer qualify with the new provisions will lose coverage, impacting funding that goes to rural hospitals, including Baystate Franklin.

Although Baystate Health confirmed on July 7 that Baystate Franklin is not at risk of closure, the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina identified the Greenfield hospital as being one of the 338 nationally labeled at risk of “financial distress and even closure, conversion or service reductions” because of the bill’s $500 billion Medicaid slash.

Baystate Health did note the impact the bill will have in the form of program reductions, services and jobs across the health care industry.

“We’ve learned that [Baystate Franklin’s close is] off the list, but nothing’s ever off the table with Trump,” Triolo said when asked about the concerns she has with what she calls “Trump’s Big, Ugly Budget Bill.”

Former nurse Marsha Stone and her husband Norman Hirschfeld expressed similar worries about Baystate Franklin’s future. Hirschfeld mentioned the previous staffing cuts at Baystate Health — the health care system announced in November that it planned to lay off 134 employees in management positions — as a point of apprehension for the future, and Stone reiterated the role rural hospitals play for people who need quick and accessible health care.

“Everybody needs to have health care,” Stone said.

Speaking about solutions and a path forward, Cohen said more towns and cities need to be looking at resolutions to support a single-payer health care system in Massachusetts, noting the passage of a resolution by the Greenfield Human Rights Commission earlier this week showing support for the system.

In February, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Reps. Lindsay Sabadosa and Margaret Scarsdale refiled legislation to establish single-payer health insurance in Massachusetts. The legislation, called “An Act Establishing Medicare for All in Massachusetts” (H.1405/S.860), seeks to establish the Massachusetts Healthcare Trust: a single payer of all health care costs to replace insurance companies.

“It’s the only way we can really put pressure on the Legislature,” Cohen said of the resolution.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.