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Protect Our Care to Mark 10 Year Anniversary of the Passage of the Affordable Care Act With a Battleground State Bus Tour and Events Nationwide

POC’s March Bus Tour and 10 Days of Action Will Launch Ahead of the 10 Year Anniversary of the Passage of the ACA on March 23; Groundswell of Activity Will Also Include New Ads, Polling and Research 

Washington, D.C. — Ahead of the 10 year anniversary passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on March 23, Protect Our Care is announcing 10 days of action around the landmark anniversary including a multi state bus tour in key 2020 battleground states. Protect Our Care’s bus tour, corresponding days of action as well as new ads, polling and research will highlight the positive impact that the ACA has had on the lives of millions of Americans while bringing attention to the existential threat to Americans’ health care posed by the Trump administration and Republicans’ ongoing attacks on the law that puts the coverage of 20 million Americans at risk.  

Protect Our Care’s bus tour will kick off on March 15 in Minnesota and make stops in the key 2020 battleground states of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Protect Our Care’s bus tour will include members of Congress, state and local lawmakers, health care advocates, doctors and patients who will speak about how the ACA has made a difference in the lives of those in their communities and how Republicans’ relentless war on health care, including their ongoing lawsuit to overturn the ACA, threatens their health care. 

Protect Our Care will also be working with partner organizations and advocates to lead 10 days of action across the country heading up to the anniversary to highlight the specific ways the Affordable Care Act has helped communities and make clear what’s at stake because of the Trump administration’s sabotage agenda and their effort to overturn the law in the courts. 

“There is no question that the Affordable Care Act has been a positive force in the lives of millions of Americans over the last 10 years who depend on the ACA for health insurance and critical protections like those for pre-existing conditions,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “Over the ten days surrounding this landmark anniversary, Protect Our Care will travel the country and remind Americans how the ACA has improved and saved the lives of millions while making clear that the relentless and ongoing attacks on the law from President Trump and Republicans pose an existential threat to Americans’ health care. While the president doubles down on his efforts to repeal our health care and released a budget with over $1 trillion in devastating cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, Democrats have made clear they are the party that will protect, improve and expand health care for all Americans.” 

The Protect Our Care ACA Anniversary Bus Tour is making stops in: 

St. Paul, MN on Sunday, March 15 

Des Moines, IA on Monday, March 16

Cedar Rapids, IA on Monday, March 16

La Crosse, WI on Tuesday, March 17

Madison, WI on Tuesday, March 17

Lansing, MI on Wednesday, March 18

Detroit, MI on Wednesday, March 18

Wilkes-Barre, PA on Thursday, March 19

Allentown, PA on Friday, March 20

Philadelphia, PA on Friday, March 20 

Washington, DC on Monday, March 23

Charlotte, NC on Wednesday, March 25

Raleigh, NC on Wednesday, March 25

California’s Open Enrollment Surge a Stark Reminder of the ACA’s Continued Success Despite Trump Administration’s Sabotage

Washington, DC — Today, California reported a surge in new enrollees in their state exchange. A 41 percent increase in new enrollees lead to an overall enrollment of 1.5 million people. According to reporting in Politico, state officials “attributed the surge in new enrollments to additional state insurance subsidies, California’s restoration of the individual mandate and a robust marketing campaign.” In response to the successful open enrollment in California, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach released the following statement: 

“California’s enrollment numbers are a shining example of what happens when you actually promote the Affordable Care Act. Imagine how many more people would have coverage across the country if the Trump administration didn’t actively sabotage the law.” 

Background:

Health Care Sabotage Tracker 

Protect Our Care, Members of Congress Using February Recess to Address the High Cost of Prescription Drugs

As members of Congress return to their districts for the February recess this week, Protect Our Care is taking the opportunity to show Americans that Democrats remain committed to lowering the cost of prescription drugs. This week, Protect Our Care will host a groundswell of activity, including press conferences, town halls and roundtable discussions with members of Congress and health care advocates across the country to highlight the work Democrats have championed to lower drug prices for Americans. While Congress passed House Democrats’ landmark bill, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) last year, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans refuse to take up the bill or any legislation related to lowering the cost of prescription drugs that includes giving Medicare the power to negotiate for lower prices – a policy that is the most effective way to lower drug prices for Americans.

For additional information about individual events, please reach out to [email protected].

Here’s a look at some of the events Protect Our Care has planned over the Congressional recess:

February 18, 2020

IA: Press Conference with Progress Iowa, Indivisible Iowa and Iowa Citizen Action Network outside Sen. Ernst’s Office in Cedar Rapids, IA at 12PM CT

MN: Roundtable with Sen. Tina Smith, patients and providers in Minneapolis, MN at 10AM CT

February 19, 2020

NH: Roundtable with Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01) in Rye, NH

February 20, 2020

CO: Health Care Day of Action with Colorado Consumer Health Initiative in Denver, CO at 8AM CT

NC: Press Call with North Carolina Health Care Advocates at 11AM ET

NV: Press Conference with Rep. Steven Horsford (NV-04) 

PA: Press Conference with Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-08) in Dunmore, PA

February 21, 2020

ME: Press Conference at State Capitol in Augusta, ME

February 23, 2020

AZ: Health Care Town Hall with Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-07) and Honest Arizona

February 25, 2020

WI: Press Conference with Citizen Action 

Appeals Court Reaffirms Decision to Strike Down the Trump Administration’s Heartless and Wholly Ineffective Medicaid Work Requirements

Washington, DC — Today, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld Judge James Boasberg’s decision in Gresham v. Azar striking down the Trump administration’s “arbitrary and capricious” Medicaid work requirements. In response, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse issued the following statement: 

“Again and again the courts have ruled against the Trump administration’s burdensome paperwork requirements that are meant to boot people off the Medicaid rolls, but that hasn’t stopped them from continuing to push the policy, as they did earlier this week in their budget proposal. After today’s decision, it’s clearer than ever that the Trump administration and their Republican allies across the country should drop their relentless war on Medicaid and American health care once and for all.”

Trump’s Health Care Sabotage Left The U.S. Unprepared For Coronavirus

Washington, DC — Secretary Alex Azar, who is set to testify on President Trump’s budget before the Senate Finance Committee tomorrow, penned an op-ed with Secretary Mike Pompeo in USA TODAY attempting to build a positive narrative around the administration’s inadequate response to the coronavirus. In response to Secretary Azar’s op-ed and in anticipation of his testimony tomorrow, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach released the following statement: 

“After three years of decimating our pandemic response capabilities, and finding themselves unprepared for the coronavirus on U.S. shores, the Trump administration is now doing the one thing they do well: crafting a false narrative.”

BACKGROUND

The Trump administration’s sabotage of health care does not stop at increasing costs and reducing coverage. It also includes failing to adequately protect Americans from infectious disease outbreaks. From budget cuts to leaving key positions unfilled to making it harder for people to access health care, the administration has worked the last three years to undermine and dismantle our pandemic response apparatus, leaving Americans more vulnerable to the coronavirus outbreak

Trump Once Again Sought Cuts To Key Programs For Global Disease Response In His 2021 Budget. In his 2021 budget, Trump proposed steep cuts to the two agencies in charge of the coronavirus response, seeking to reduce NIH funding by $3.7 billion and CDC funding by $1.29 billion. He previously proposed cutting global health funding in his 2020 budget from more than $10 billion to $8 billion, its lowest level since 2008. Per Foreign Policy, other Trump-backed efforts included “reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS.”  

Trump Dismantled The NSC’s Entire Global Health Security Unit And Failed To Fill Other Key Public Health Vacancies, Leaving The Country “Ill-Prepared” For A Global Pandemic. In 2018, the Trump administration dismantled the entire global health security unit at the National Security Council, reassigning its leader, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, a long-time public health official who had served under both the Bush and Obama administrations. Additionally, Tom Bossert, another key official for infectious disease preparedness and biodefense strategy, left that same year. No one has since filled these positions. Moreover, Trump has pursued cuts to the global health section of the CDC so severe that the number of countries it was working in decreased from 49 to 10. In 2017, the Washington Post reported that Trump had “failed to fill crucial public health positions across the government, leaving the nation ill-prepared” for a global pandemic.”  

Trump’s Recent Proposal To Block Grant Medicaid Threatens The Ability to Respond to Outbreaks. Under the Trump administration’s proposed block grant, federal funding would no longer necessarily increase in response to a public health emergency. This could lead to people losing coverage and access to care, undermining prevention and treatment of diseases nationwide. 

Trump’s Texas Lawsuit And Other Efforts To Repeal The ACA Would Cut Key Funding From The CDC. GOP repeal bills would have eliminated the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund. In 2017, the Washington Post reported that this fund “provides almost $1 billion annually to CDC, now about 12 percent of CDC’s budget. It includes prevention of bioterrorism and disease outbreaks, as well as money to provide immunizations and heart-disease screenings.” The Trump administration is currently supporting a lawsuit that could repeal the ACA in its entirety, and there is no plan to maintain this funding if the courts overturn the health care law. 

Trump Is Spreading Misinformation About The Outbreak. On January 30, 2020, Trump tweeted: “Working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in U.S., all in good recovery.” But as Time noted, “a sixth case of the virus had already been confirmed, and public health experts said it was not yet clear that those infected were ‘all in good recovery.”’ A few days later, without evidence, Trump claimed “we’ve pretty much shut it down.”  

HEADLINE TIMELINE

2017

Global Biodefense: “Pandemics, Personnel, And Politics: How The Trump Administration Is Leaving Us Vulnerable To The Next Outbreak” 

Washington Post: “The Trump Administration Is Ill-prepared For A Global Pandemic” 

2018

Washington Post“Top White House Official In Charge Of Pandemic Response Exits Abruptly” 

The Atlantic:  “Ebola Returns Just As The White House Loses Its Top Biodefense Expert” 

2019

New York Times: “Scientists Were Hunting for the Next Ebola. Now the U.S. Has Cut Off Their Funding.”

Vox: “A Crucial Federal Program Tracking Dangerous Diseases Is Shutting Down”

Mother Jones: As Ebola Deaths Mount in Africa, Trump Is Screwing Up the Response

USA Today: “Trump tweeted heartlessly about Ebola in 2014. He’s ill-equipped to handle 2019 outbreak.”

2020

Foreign Policy“Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response” 

Stat: “The Coronavirus Gives Trump His Biggest Outbreak Emergency Yet — And Experts Are Worried”

The Guardian: “Us Underprepared For Coronavirus Due To Trump Cuts, Say Health Experts”

Time: “Wuhan Coronavirus Could Test The Trump Administration’s Ability To Respond To A Crisis. Experts Are Worried” 

The Atlantic“Coronavirus Is Coming—and Trump Isn’t Ready” 

Nbc Opinion: “Coronavirus Threat Needs A National Emergency Response. Trump’s Putting Ours At Risk.”

Five Questions Secretary Azar Needs to Answer During His Senate Finance Testimony

Tomorrow, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on President Trump’s budget, which slashes over $1 trillion from vital health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid and leaves vulnerable populations at further risk. So far, the Trump administration has failed to explain why they are determined to cut these programs, so ahead of Secretary Azar’s testimony we have several questions he needs to answer: 

1. The president’s budget lists $844 billion worth of cuts to health care expenditures attributed to the “president’s health care vision” while giving no details. What specifically did you cut and why did you hide it from the American people?

  • The New York Times: Trump’s Budget “Leaves To The Imagination” Just What His Health Care Vision Is, But The Cuts “Are Not Consistent With Modest Tweaks.” The New York Times reported that “while the budget failed to detail an alternative to the Affordable Care Act, it did include a very specific savings target that would entail significant changes: $844 billion in cuts over a decade to execute what the budget called the ‘president’s health care vision’…Mr. Trump is running for re-election this year, so his budget can be read as a policy blueprint for his second term if he wins. The budget leaves to the imagination just what that vision is…But the deep cuts enshrined in the budget’s numbers are not consistent with modest tweaks.”

2. The president claims to have “saved” protections for pre-existing conditions when in fact your administration has repeatedly put these protections at risk. Can you point to one instance where the administration has taken such a step?

  • Trump Has Repeatedly Claimed That He Will Protect People With Pre-existing Conditions Despite Efforts To Dismantle The Affordable Care Act. He did so last week in the State of the Union. By the next day, independent analysts and fact-checkers pointed out that that statement is somewhere between misleading and a lie. In reality, Trump has tried repeatedly to strip protections from 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions through failed attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act in Congress and now through his ongoing federal lawsuit Trump himself claimed would “terminate” the Affordable Care Act and its consumer protections.
  • The Trump Administration Has Expanded Access To Short-Term Junk Plans, Which Are Not Required To Cover People With Pre-existing Conditions. Kaiser Health News recently rated Trump’s claim that these plans are “less expensive and better” as mostly false: “given the limitations of short-term plans, they’re not better than ACA plans for most people, because policyholders could face potentially significant financial risk — or find their treatment needs are not covered. They’re definitely not better for people who qualify for federal subsidies to buy ACA insurance, especially those at the lower end of that income range, where the subsidies are larger.

3. How many Medicaid recipients will lose coverage if the administration successfully implements hundreds of billions in cuts, transitions state funding to “block grants,” and pushes onerous paperwork requirements intended to boot people off the rolls?

  • Block Grants Are Designed To Throw People Off Medicaid. Experts and leading patient groups have said the Trump administration’s Medicaid block grant guidance encourages states to cut enrollment and reduce benefits, threatening access to care for patients. AARP said that block grants “could put at risk the health coverage for millions of vulnerable Americans.”
  • Medicaid Work Requirements Cost More And Cover Less.  After Arkansas imposed the nation’s first so-called work requirements program, more than 18,000 residents lost Medicaid coverage. While these state efforts have been blocked by a federal judge several times, the Trump administration keeps fighting to impose work reporting requirements in Medicaid, appealing federal court rulings that blocked such requirements because they are illegal. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, these onerous requirements could take health care away from up to 4 million Americans. Meanwhile, a recent GAO report found that the administrative costs to implement the failed work requirement programs in five states topped $400 million.

4. Does the administration have a plan for the 20 million people who will lose their insurance if the lawsuit you’re backing to overturn the Affordable Care Act is successful? Why has the president been falsely claiming to have an alternative “plan” for months but failed to produce one? 

  • Trump Is All-In On The Texas Lawsuit, Threatening Health Care For Millions. After failing to repeal the health care law, Trump took his war on America’s health care to a new level and went to court seeking to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act–including protections for pre-existing conditions. If President Trump and Republicans have their way, 20 million Americans will lose their insurance coverage, 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will be stripped of their protections, and costs will go up for millions.

5. Why did President Trump pull his support on giving Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices, and did you advise him to do so?

  • 9 In 10 Americans Support Medicare Negotiation. Polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that about 9 in 10 Americans (88 percent) support allowing the federal government to negotiate prices for Medicare beneficiaries, including 92 percent of Democrats, 90 percent of independents, and 85 percent of Republicans.
  • Trump Continues To Stand With Big Pharma As Drug Prices Have Soared. Donald Trump promised that he would lower drug costs, but instead he gave drug companies billions in tax breaks. The year after the tax bill passed, the largest drug companies made $50 billion in profits and subsequently used their savings to invest billions more in stock buybacks for their shareholders. Meanwhile, more than 3,400 drugs saw price increases in the first half of 2019 alone. Trump has rejected common sense reforms, like giving Medicare the power to negotiate for lower prices.

HEADLINES: Trump’s Budget Includes Deep Cuts to Vital Health Care Programs

Yesterday, President Trump released his budget that includes $1 trillion in cuts from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, further escalating his war on Americans’ health care. He also proposed reducing Medicare spending by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. Press reports quickly pointed out that these deep cuts to health care will leave vulnerable populations at further risk and are the opposite of what President Trump promised in his 2016 campaign for the White House. 

New York Times: In Trump’s Budget, Big Health Care Cuts But Few Details. “The deep cuts enshrined in the budget’s numbers are not consistent with modest tweaks. Taken together with Medicaid changes recommended elsewhere in the budget, the proposal would strip about $1 trillion out of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s premium subsidies, the two pillars of the law’s expansion of insurance coverage.” [New York Times, 2/10/20

New York Times: Trump’s $4.8 Trillion Budget Would Cut Safety Net Programs And Boost Defense. “All together, it proposed combined cuts to spending in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies that equal a trillion dollars — cuts that would mean substantial program changes.” [New York Times, 2/10/20

Washington Post: Trump Proposes $4.8 Trillion Election-Year Budget With Big Domestic Cuts. “The budget cuts Medicaid spending by about $920 billion over 10 years, a change Democrats and administration critics warn would lead to reductions in benefits and the number of people on the health care program…‘This is a budget that would cause many millions of people to lose health care coverage. That is unambiguous,’ said Aviva Aron-Dine, a former Obama official and vice president at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think-tank.” [Washington Post, 2/10/20

Associated Press: Mystery $844B Pot In Trump Budget Signals Medicaid Cuts. “President Donald Trump’s budget contains an $844 billion mystery pot for his still undefined health care plan, signaling steep cuts to Medicaid and ‘Obamacare.’” [Associated Press, 2/10/20

Washington Post: Trump Budget Cuts Funding For Health, Science, Environment Agencies. “Medicaid, the safety-net insurance for low-income Americans, would receive nearly $920 billion less than otherwise anticipated by 2030 as federal health officials encourage states to create work requirements and tighten eligibility checks…for Medicare, the federal insurance for older and disabled Americans, the plan would curb spending by $480 billion over the decade, primarily through proposed cuts in payments to doctors and hospitals.” [Washington Post, 2/10/20

Wall Street Journal: Trump Proposes $4.8 Trillion Budget, With Cuts to Safety Nets.In campaigning for the White House Mr. Trump had promised voters he would protect funding for Medicare and Medicaid. His new budget’s proposals to wring savings through changes to those programs reflect longstanding GOP efforts to reduce federal safety-net spending…” [Wall Street Journal, 2/10/20

Axios: Hospitals And Medicaid Enrollees Lose Under Trump’s Budget. “President Trump’s 2021 budget proposes massive reductions in Medicare and Medicaid spending, which would be felt most acutely by hospitals and Medicaid beneficiaries…the budget isn’t entirely theoretical; the administration is moving full steam ahead on some of its Medicaid proposals — like work requirements and block grants — and is still hoping to notch a victory on prescription drug prices before the election…the budget would reduce Medicare and Medicaid spending by hundreds of billions of dollars each over the next decade.” [Axios, 2/11/20

Vox: Trump Vowed To Not Cut Social Security And Medicare — Hours Before Proposing Just That. “That Trump is proposing cuts to these programs isn’t surprising — his 2020 budget cut all three as well. It’s a long-running contradiction for the president. He often says he won’t touch these entitlement programs, but he’s continued to employ Republican Party officials who make cutting these programs center to their work.” [Vox, 2/10/20

Don’t Expect to Hear the Truth About President Trump’s Disastrous and Unpopular Health Care Record at Tonight’s Rally in New Hampshire

Washington, DC — President Trump’s rally in Manchester, New Hampshire tonight comes after years of his relentless war on health care and his own polling that shows his health care record is deeply unpopular. Ahead of Trump’s rally, Protect Our Care Chairman Leslie Dach released the following statement:

“Granite Staters won’t hear the truth about President Trump’s disastrous and unpopular health care record at his rally tonight. President Trump continues to lie at his rallies every time he claims that he has ‘saved’ protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The truth is the president’s disastrous Texas lawsuit would strip protections from over half a million Granite Staters with pre-existing conditions. And today, he released his budget that cuts Medicaid by hundreds of millions of dollars, taking coverage away from millions including seniors, children and veterans. New Hampshire is sick and tired of President Trump and Republicans relentless war on their health care.”

IF TRUMP GETS HIS WAY IN THE TEXAS LAWSUIT:

Granite Staters Would Lose Their Coverage

  • 89,000 Granite Staters could lose coverage. According to the Urban Institute, 89,000 Granite Staters would lose coverage by repealing the Affordable Care Act, leading to a 136 percent increase in the uninsured rate.
  • 9,000 New Hampshire young adults with their parents’ coverage could lose care. Because of the Affordable Care Act, millions of young adults are able to stay on their parents’ care until age 26.
  • New Hampshire children could lose their coverage. Almost three million children nationwide gained coverage thanks to the ACA. If the law is overturned, many of these children will lose their insurance.
  • 3,300 New Hampshire Latinos could lose coverage. The percentage of people gaining health insurance under the ACA was higher for Latinos than for any other racial or ethnic group in the country. According to a study from Families USA, 5.4 million Latinos nationwide would lose coverage if the lawsuit succeeds in overturning the ACA.
  • Granite Staters would lose important federal health care funding — an estimated reduction of $366 million in the first year. The Urban Institute estimates that a full repeal of the ACA would reduce federal spending on Granite Staters’ Medicaid/CHIP care and Marketplace subsidies by $366 million. 

Insurance Companies Would Be Put Back In Charge, Ending Protections For The 135 Million People Nationwide With A Pre-Existing Condition

  • According to a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress, roughly half of nonelderly Americans, or as many as 135 million people, have a pre-existing condition. This includes:
    • 44 million people who have high blood pressure
    • 45 million people who have behavioral health disorders
    • 44 million people who have high cholesterol
    • 34 million people who have asthma and chronic lung disease
    • 34 million people who have osteoarthritis and other joint disorders

571,300 Granite Staters have a pre-existing condition, including 61,600 New Hampshire children, 270,000 New Hampshire women, and 162,700 Granite Staters between ages 55 and 64. 

Insurance Companies Would Have The Power To Charge You More, While Their Profits Soar

  • 690,524 Granite Staters Could Once Again Have To Pay For Preventive Care. Because of the ACA, health plans must cover preventive services — like flu shots, cancer screenings, contraception, and mammograms – at no cost to consumers. This includes nearly 690,524 Granite Staters, most of whom have employer coverage.
  • 31,179 Granite Staters in the Marketplaces Would Pay More for Coverage. If the Trump-GOP lawsuit is successful, consumers would no longer have access to tax credits that help them pay their marketplace premiums, meaning roughly nine million people who receive these tax credits to pay for coverage will have to pay more, including 31,179 in New Hampshire.
  • 21,150 New Hampshire Seniors Could Have to Pay More for Prescription Drugs. If the Trump-GOP lawsuit is successful, seniors could have to pay more for prescription drugs because the Medicare “donut” hole would be reopened. From 2010 to 2016, “More than 11.8 million Medicare beneficiaries have received discounts over $26.8 billion on prescription drugs – an average of $2,272 per beneficiary,” according to a January 2017 CMS report. In New Hampshire, 21,150 seniors each saved an average of $1,139.
  • Reinstate Lifetime and Annual Limits On 545,000 Privately Insured Granite Staters. Repealing the Affordable Care Act means insurance companies would be able to impose annual and lifetime limits on coverage for those insured through their employer or on the individual market.

Medicaid Expansion Would Be Repealed

  • 57,000 Granite Staters Enrolled Through Medicaid Expansion Could Lose Coverage. Seventeen million people have coverage through the expanded Medicaid program, including 57,000 in New Hampshire. 
  • Access To Treatment Would Be In Jeopardy For 800,000 People With Opioid Use Disorder. Roughly four in ten, or 800,000 people with an opioid use disorder are enrolled in Medicaid. Many became eligible through Medicaid expansion.
  • Key Support For Rural Hospitals Would Disappear, leaving New Hampshire hospitals with $234 million more in uncompensated care.

Trump Budget Again Slashes Health Care Spending by Hundreds of Billions of Dollars

Washington, DC — Today, President Trump released his FY2021 budget that, according to early press reports, includes hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to health care, further escalating the President’s all-out war on Americans’ health care. Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement in response:

“President Trump’s budget is a continuation of the war on health care he has waged against the American people since he came into office. Last week his State of the Union Address was full of lies in an attempt to cover up his true record on health care, but today his budget tells the real story. The budget cuts Medicaid through onerous paperwork requirements that are intended to boot people from the rolls and the president seeks to change the program into so-called “block grants” that will take coverage away from millions. And if all that’s not enough, his budget slashes funding for the Department of Health and Human Services by 9 percent when America is facing so many health care challenges.

“It’s abundantly clear that the administration is once again dead-set on cutting critical health care programs relied on by millions of Americans, including ones impacting seniors and children. These massive cuts for patients are even more egregious considering the administration has showered health insurance and big drug companies with billions of dollars in tax breaks. Given all this, it’s not hard at all to understand why voters disapprove of the president’s handling of health care and why it remains his number one political vulnerability in 2020.”

House Votes to Take a Stand Against Trump Administration’s Plan to Gut Medicaid With Block Grants

Washington, DC — Today, the House of Representatives passed a resolution to disapprove of the Trump administration’s latest plan to allow states to convert part of their Medicaid programs into block grants. These so-called block grants have been pursued by Republicans for decades to gut coverage and kick people off the rolls, and have been resoundingly rejected by Congress time and again. In response to the House’s passage of this resolution, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:

“While President Trump and his administration pursue a policy of ripping away coverage and kicking people off the rolls, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have acted to ensure the Trump administration is held accountable for their blatant sabotage of Medicaid. The administration is targeting Medicaid expansion — one of the most successful, important and popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act — putting vulnerable and low-income populations dependant on the program at further risk. Once again, Democrats have proven that they are the only party worth taking seriously when it comes to protecting Americans’ health care.”

BACKGROUND

28 Million People Could Be Affected By Trump’s Latest Block Grant Proposal. “Overall, the HAO demonstrations could cover nearly 30 million adults if adopted in all states. This total includes approximately 13 million adults newly covered through the ACA Medicaid expansion, 10 million adults currently covered through other state options (using the estimate that 16.1% of Medicaid enrollees are adults covered at state option without accounting for the ACA expansion), and nearly five million uninsured low-income adults in non-expansion states who could be eligible for Medicaid if the state adopted the expansion.” [Kaiser Family Foundation, February 2020

American Lung Association, American Heart Association, And 25 Other Patient Groups Said Trump’s Block Grants “Will Reduce Access To Quality And Affordable Health Care For Patients With Serious And Chronic Health Conditions And Are Therefore Unacceptable To Our Organizations.” “Per capita caps and block grants are designed to reduce federal funding for Medicaid, forcing states to either make up the difference with their own funds or make cuts to their programs that would reduce access to care for the patients we represent. As the gap between the capped allotment and actual costs of patient care increases over time, states will likely limit enrollment, reduce benefits, lower provider payments or increase cost-sharing for patients. States are already moving forward with deeply troubling proposals in anticipation of today’s guidance promoting these limiting financing arrangements. Simply put, block grants and per capita caps will reduce access to quality and affordable health care for patients with serious and chronic health conditions and are therefore unacceptable to our organizations.” [American Lung Association, 1/30/20

The American Academy of Pediatrics, Children’s Defense Fund, Children’s Hospital Association, Family Voices, First Focus on Children, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, March of Dimes and National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners Said “At A Time When Child Uninsurance Is Already On The Rise, This Guidance Makes It Even Harder To Guarantee Children Can Get The Care They Need.” “Our organizations are united in opposition to any threat to Medicaid that would dismantle a pillar program millions of families rely on. At a time when child uninsurance is already on the rise, this guidance makes it even harder to guarantee children can get the care they need. We urge CMS to immediately rescind the guidance and keep Medicaid strong.” [American Academy Of Pediatrics, 1/30/20

AARP: Block Grants “Could Put At Risk The Health Coverage For Millions Of Vulnerable Americans.” “AARP is deeply concerned that new guidance released today by CMS letting states cap funding in the Medicaid program could put at risk the health coverage for millions of vulnerable Americans. Capping the program’s funding structure and limiting benefits and services could leave millions without the coverage and care they need.” [AARP, 1/30/20]