A screaming protester directed her anger at an Alabama congressman as a House committee debated Medicaid cuts on Tuesday.

“You will kill me. I am HIV-positive,” the demonstrator shouted, interrupting Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Hoover.

It happened during the a meeting of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which legislates on health care policy, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Palmer claimed the protester and others who demonstrate against the cuts are victims of “misinformation.”

“It’s unfortunate that people are so enraged by misinformation they’ve been given,” Palmer said. “It’s a commentary on this Congress and how we treat people.”

Palmer said that while one of his Democratic colleagues insisted there is no waste or fraud in Medicaid, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported $543 billion in improper payments between 2015 and 2024.

The congressman said that $543 billion could have gone to people who need Medicaid coverage and medicine.

“That’s waste and fraud. That’s abuse of the people that need Medicaid,” he said, adding that other reports put improper Medicaid payments at over $1 trillion.

“Here’s the issue: we’re trying to save Medicaid,” Palmer said. “It’s interesting, people hold up signs saying, ‘save our Medicaid.’ That’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”

On Monday, House Republicans unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” at least $880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks.

Tallying hundreds of pages, the legislation revealed late Sunday is touching off the biggest political fight over health care since Republicans tried but failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in 2017.

While Republicans insist they are simply rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse” to generate savings with new work and eligibility requirements, Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage.

A preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by 8.6 million over the decade.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.