A coalition of medical workers, insurers and hospitals in Puerto Rico have launched a media campaign petitioning Congress not to slash the island's healthcare funding in wake of its $72 billion debt crisis.

The Puerto Rico Healthcare Crisis Coalition (PRHCC) -- which comprises patient advocates, doctors, hospitals, insurers, activists, labor unions and business leaders -- have called on Congress to avert cuts to their healthcare system. To push this message, the PRHCC has launched television, print and digital ads in the Washington, D.C. area, demanding that congressional leaders stand up for the rights of the millions of U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico.

"Puerto Rico's economy is in a death spiral. To make matters worse, Washington has plans to cut another $3 billion from the island's healthcare budget," said a narrator in a YouTube video. "Puerto Ricans pay the same Medicare taxes, but receive less than half the funding of mainland states, leaving the system on life support. More cuts will push the economy to the edge of disaster - and put every Puerto Rican's care in jeopardy."

The campaign warns that Puerto Rico's mass debt crisis could become even worst if lawmakers vote to cut edicare, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage, which over 60 percent of patients on the island depend on. This could lead to a total collapse of the healthcare system.

The ads also warn that Puerto Rico's healthcare system will lose a $500 million "across the board if D.C. doesn't restore the funding, including $150 million to hospitals and $65 million to pharmaceutical companies," reports The Hill.

"The federal government's shortchanging of healthcare funding is a blatant discrimination against Puerto Ricans. We are not asking for special treatment -- we pay the same Social Security and Medicare taxes but get less than Americans who live on the mainland," added the coalition's chairman, Dennis Rivera, in a press release.