Over 1,000 activists have gathered in what is a mass protest in Puerto Rico as a call for action to the worsening situation of the health care in the island. The island residents were also joined by advocates of health care, labor leaders and civil rights activists.

In a report with NBC, US residents might not be aware of Puerto Rico's poor healthcare system that has taken a steady decline during the past few years. While Puerto Rico's financial situation has reached world headlines, healthcare in the island has become another pressing issue. 

"The pending federal cuts to the island's healthcare system could represent its collapse, affecting millions of Puerto Ricans who could lose health services provided by the government," said Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla at the rally. 

The website reported that Puerto Rico could lose a staggering $3 billion in federal cuts during the next couple of years. 

Rep. Nydia Velázquez  also lamented that the crisis was already debilitating on the Caribbean island and that they were not asking for a bailout, but something else entirely.

"It's a crisis within a crisis," said Velázquez. "We are not asking for a bailout, we are asking for parity." 

Puerto Rico's fiscal crisis might turn its health care into its first major casualty, as reported by The Washington Post. The island's health-care system is has deteriorated over the years having found themselves to be overburdened by lack of funding and the inability take out a loan.

The islands doctors, nurses and medical technicians have also fled to the mainland in search of making better money under better conditions.

The said health care crisis is a result of Puerto Rico's $73 billion debt which has left the government in a crippling situation, unable to pay its bills. Officials have appealed to the Obama administration  to help by increasing Medicare and Medicaid funding, but this has seemed in vain as of the moment. 

Despite this, Velasquez says that she and her party will keep on pressuring The White House for as long as it takes. Velasquez added that she needed to have Obama and his administration make Puerto Rico a priority and not an option. 

"It would be irresponsible of our federal government not to intervene on behalf of the residents of this island. We need to put pressure on Obama and the presidential candidates to make Puerto Rico a priority," she said.