News

Yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report at the request of Congressional Democrats detailing how Republicans’ Medicaid cuts and other reconciliation proposals will rip care away from millions of Americans to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Next week, Republicans are set to put pen to paper and finalize their budget, cutting billions of dollars from Medicaid and throwing millions of people off their health care, all to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Their plan would force seniors out of nursing homes, jeopardize the health care of half of all children in America, and take lifesaving care away from people with disabilities. Every single community across the country will feel the effects of these cuts.

HEADLINES

Politico: CBO: Millions Could Lose Coverage if GOP Pulls Back on Medicaid Expansion

The Hill: CBO: Millions of People Could Lose Insurance Under GOP Medicaid Options

The New York Times: G.O.P. Plans to Cut Medicaid Would Save Billions but Leave More Uninsured, Budget Office Says

USA Today: Millions Could Lose Coverage Under GOP Plan to Cut Medicaid, per CBO

Daily Kos: GOP Budget Plans Would Rip Health Care Away From Millions

Axios: CBO: Medicaid Moves Would Cause Coverage Losses

Huffpost: GOP Plans To Cut Medicaid Would Kick Millions Off Health Insurance, New Analysis Says

NOLA News: GOP Medicaid Ideas Could Take Thousands Off Rolls, Analysis Says; What it Means for Louisiana

Kentucky Lantern: Congressional Budget Agency Projects Sweeping Medicaid Cutbacks in States Under GOP Plans

Washington, D.C. – The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office just released a report at the request of Congressional Democrats detailing how Republicans’ Medicaid cuts and other reconciliation proposals will rip care away from millions of Americans to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. 

In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement: 

“The latest CBO report has confirmed what we already know to be true: Republican cuts to health care will devastate American families. In their outrageous crusade to hand out more tax breaks to the wealthy, Republicans are betraying the millions of families who count on Medicaid. Their scheme will kick seniors out of nursing homes, rip away care from veterans, shutter rural hospitals, and raise costs for hardworking families. It’s disgraceful that anyone will be denied necessary and often lifesaving care to give another tax break to Donald Trump and his wealthy friends. They can run from the reality of these numbers and the devastating impact on millions of Americans, but we will not let them hide.”

Background:

THE TRUTH: Every Republican Medicaid Proposal Will Take Health Care Away from Millions To Fund Tax Breaks for the Wealthy

Washington, D.C. – Following yesterday’s meeting with Speaker Johnson,  Republicans are quickly moving forward with their plan to pass the largest cut to Medicaid in history and throw millions of people off their coverage. The truth is that they are still moving forward to cut hundreds of billions from Medicaid to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. 

According to analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Republicans cannot achieve their savings targets without deeply cutting Medicaid, which would rip health care away from millions of seniors, children, people with disabilities, and hardworking families. 

In response, Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse gave the following statement: 

“Not one dollar should be taken from Medicaid to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Despite their claims, Republicans know that the magnitude of these cuts will throw millions of people off their coverage and take benefits away from the people who need Medicaid most. So-called moderates are betraying their own voters when they say that this will protect their health care. 

“Let’s be clear: None of this has to happen. Republicans are hellbent on taking health care away in order to pay for Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy. They know that their plan is deeply unpopular, so they continue to spew lies to the American people as they push forward with this devastating Medicaid proposal that will hurt millions of seniors, people with disabilities, children, veterans, and families. This deal should be dead on arrival with every so-called Republican moderate who has said they won’t cut benefits, because this approach surely will.”

Background

THE TRUTH: Every Republican Medicaid Proposal Will Take Health Care Away from Millions To Fund Tax Breaks for the Wealthy

 

Right now, Republicans are plotting behind closed doors to cut billions of dollars from Medicaid and throw millions of people off their health care, all to fund tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations. Their plan would force seniors out of nursing homes, jeopardize the health care of half of all children in America, and take lifesaving care away from people with disabilities. Every single community across the country will feel the effects of these cuts. 

Republicans know full well that cutting Medicaid is deeply unpopular and politically dangerous – that’s why they postponed their upcoming markup sessions. Poll after poll after poll has found Republican lawmakers are completely out of step with the American people when it comes to Medicaid. A majority of voters, including GOP voters, oppose cuts to Medicaid and are counting on Republicans to do the right thing – reject cuts to Medicaid. If Republicans continue down this path, they will pay the price at the ballot box. 

The New Republic: The Republican Budget Plan Could Kick Millions Off Medicaid.

• “A March report from the Urban Institute found that if work requirements… were fully implemented for adults aged 19 through 55 in the 40 states and Washington, D.C., where Medicaid access has been expanded, between 4.6 and 5.2 million recipients would lose their eligibility. Moreover, researchers found that at least 10,000 adults would lose coverage in every state that expanded Medicaid access, with more than 100,000 losing coverage in 13 states.”

Salon: “Medicaid Has Saved My Life Multiple Times”: Patients Explain How GOP Cuts Could Impact Their Health.

• “With congressional Republicans scheming up ways to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding for Medicaid, those who have relied on the program are now sharing their stories, highlighting how the program fills critical gaps in the United States’ social safety net and saves lives.”
• “Republicans have played coy with their plans to gut the program, with many telling constituents that they don’t plan to cut benefits for anyone who legitimately qualifies. As it stands, Republicans are debating ways to adjust how federal funding for the program is allocated.”

New York Times: Opinion: What Medicaid Cuts Would Do To My Rural Hospital.

• “I know the financial peril my hospital will face if our Medicaid lifeline is severed. But the real damage — the kind that keeps me up at night — will be done to the hardworking people in my rural community. I worry about the residents of our nursing home who just want to grow old here. I worry about the people in Hugo who might forgo care entirely because they can’t get the time off work to visit a Denver hospital.”

Axios: Dems’ Doc Caucus Sees Opening With Medicaid Debate.

• “He said the group is emphasizing how Medicaid cuts would reduce access to health care for everyone by not just cutting insurance coverage but also reducing resources to physicians and hospitals. ‘We are on the front lines of really speaking to the health effects on not just people who use Medicaid, but even people who are not on Medicaid,’ he said. ‘In my district, there are several hospitals that function within the margins.… If there’s any significant Medicaid cuts, then they would have to close their doors.’”

NOTUS: Republican Moderates Tell Leaders They’re Not on Board With Proposed Medicaid Cuts.

• “According to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter, at least 10 House Republicans have reached out to leadership to express their disapproval of Scalise’s comments and opposition to the proposed Medicaid changes.”

Missouri Independent: As Republicans in Congress Eye Sweeping Medicaid Cuts, Missouri Offers a Preview.

• “In 2005, Missouri adopted some of the strictest eligibility standards in the nation, reduced benefits, and increased patients’ copayments for the joint federal-state program due to state budget shortfalls totaling about $2.4 billion over several prior years. More than 100,000 Missourians lost coverage as a result, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that the changes led to increases in credit card borrowing and debt in third-party collections.”
• “‘We’re looking at a much more significant impact with the loss of federal funds even than what 2005 was,’ said Amy Blouin, president of the progressive Missouri Budget Project think tank. ‘We’re not going to be able to protect kids. We’re not going to be able to protect people with disabilities from some sort of impact.’”

Des Moines Register: Weakening Medicaid Would Weaken Your Health Care.

• “In Iowa, nearly 700,000 people — including 300,000 children — rely on Medicaid for their health care, which is jointly funded by federal and state governments. These are our neighbors, co-workers, classmates, and loved ones, living in every corner of the state… Medicaid cuts would disproportionately harm rural and small-town areas more than metro centers. In Iowa alone, nearly 270,000 of those covered by Medicaid live in rural communities. This is especially concerning because these are the exact areas where medical care is already harder to access.”

KSNT: Kansas State Government Says Nearly Half a Million Kansans are at Risk Due to Proposed Medicaid Cuts.

• “‘Significant cuts to the Medicaid program will directly affect Kansans across the state, regardless of their political views. These cuts would be particularly detrimental to our rural hospitals and providers,’ Kelly said. ‘We must stand up against these changes to ensure the hundreds of thousands of Kansans covered under Medicaid can continue to receive quality, affordable care.’”

Wisconsin Examiner: Medicaid Recipients Meet With Lawmakers to Protest Medicaid Cuts.

• “‘These attacks on the Medicaid program can be devastating if they go through,’ Brooks-LaSure told the Wisconsin Examiner in a phone interview. ‘Not just for the millions of low-income people who need help, not just for the millions of middle-class families who depend on Medicaid — particularly for nursing home care, care in the home to keep you out of the nursing home, and children with special needs, whether it be autism services, whether it be developmental disabilities or physical disabilities.’”
• “The existence of Medicaid helps the overall health care economy in the long run, Brooks-LaSure said. Under federal law, hospitals must ensure that patients who show up in their emergency rooms are stable before they leave. But if a person’s care isn’t covered, ‘the entire health care system pays for that.’”

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Potential Medicaid Cuts Would Be ‘Devastating’ for Hawaii.

• “‘The difficulty of thriving in an expensive state itself is a challenge,’ she said. ‘When you remove those resources, you’re challenging the household and people’s ability to take care of themselves. There’s going to be disruption in caregiving.’ If access to health care is reduced, she said, the whole ecosystem of care is affected. Oftentimes, people without routine health care resort to using emergency rooms, which is costly and strains the hospital system.”

Public News Service: Medicaid Cuts Could Impact Veterans in VA, Report Finds.

• “Mejia argued veterans in the Commonwealth would get caught up in the cuts. ‘If the federal government decides to reduce funding for Medicaid expansion by even 1%, our state law means that it would automatically end Medicaid expansion,’ Mejia pointed out. ‘That would immediately throw potentially thousands of veterans off of coverage.’”

Loudoun Times-Mirror: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Condemned at Leesburg Town Hall.

• “‘The math only works out if you’re cutting Medicaid to get to that much money in cuts. So, when someone in D.C. says, ‘We’ve never said the word Medicaid when we’re talking about cuts,’ they’re lying,’ Subramanyam said. ‘They’ll call it reform. Modernization is another word I’ve heard used. Don’t be fooled by that. It is a cut.’”

The Advocate: Editorial: Medicaid Is Vital to Louisiana. Any Cuts Should Be Made Carefully.

• “But we urge our leaders, as they undertake this important debate, to consider modernizing and investing in Medicaid to make it more efficient without cutting benefits. We also hope they will weigh whether the political benefit of being seen as budget-cutters outstrips the potential that fellow Louisianans, through no fault of their own, will lose this important service.”

Denver Post: Many Coloradans Would Lose Medicaid Under Trump’s Proposed Expansion Cuts.

• “Those already living on the bubble would likely lose their insurance immediately if Congress were to dramatically slash funding to states for Medicaid programs. And the program also wouldn’t be available to those who suffer a job loss in the future. Medicaid isn’t just for those who find themselves in chronic poverty. Our health care system is so broken that private insurance is cost-prohibitive for most Americans unless their employer is picking up much of the tab, and incentives on the Obamacare exchanges rarely are enough to fill the gap. Job loss is stressful. Add in the cost of intermediary health insurance, and savings, if they exist, can get depleted rapidly. Going uninsured is an unacceptable risk for most, as a single hospital stay could cost tens of thousands of dollars.”

Austin American-Statesman: Opinion: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Have Devastating Impact on Kids With Special Needs. 

• “However, Medicaid budget cuts are not just numbers on a page. They will have devastating real-world consequences for Texas families. For Texas families caring for children with special healthcare needs, these consequences are even more dire. For families such as those caring for a former 22-week preemie with severe heart disease and a feeding tube, a child who survived a heart transplant and lives with kidney disease, or a child with a brain injury dependent on a ventilator and 24-hour nursing — Medicaid is not just insurance. It’s a lifeline.”
• “The emotional toll on these families is profound. One mother described “just the emotional toll of being dependent on a system that really does keep your child alive.” Families experience sleepless nights with the ever-present anxiety that even one missed treatment could undo months of progress for their medically fragile children. The physical and financial impacts are equally devastating. Parents reported losing access to Medicaid means losing access to vital medical treatments, specialized formula, nursing care and durable medical equipment during times of lapsed Medicaid coverage. Families will face choosing between paying for vital health care for their child or other essential needs for their families such as food, housing or car insurance. Medicaid budget cuts will bring Texas families close to collapse.”

Chicago Sun-Times: Opinion: Trump’s Tax Cuts Don’t Boost Economy, but Every Dollar Spent on Medicaid Does.

• “Of course, cutting Medicaid by $880 billion over the next 10 years would reduce economic activity over that sequence by roughly $176 billion annually, which benefits no one. Oh, and millions of Americans will lose access to health insurance. All to what end — so really rich people can pay less in taxes and become even richer? That makes no sense, fiscally or morally.”

Des Moines Register: Opinion: Weakening Medicaid Would Weaken Your Health Care.

• “If this occurs, access to care will be in jeopardy — not just for those enrolled in Medicaid, but for all Iowans. That’s the simple truth. Fewer services, fewer doctors, and fewer clinics means everyone — even those with private insurance — could face longer wait times and reduced options. Providers already stretched thin may be forced to close rural clinics, cut staff or eliminate services, particularly when it comes to maternal care, behavioral health and pediatrics. It also means more people may access health care through higher cost, busy emergency rooms, instead of the primary care physician office.”

Ventura County Star: Opinion: Cutting Medicaid Would Severely Limit Healthcare for County Residents.

• “The types of impacts we will see here in Ventura County will be repeated all across the country. Cuts to Medicaid will impact everyone’s access to healthcare by potentially causing closures of hospitals and clinics and creating bottlenecks and longer wait times for appointments at those facilities that remain. Cuts to Medicaid also means that other county departments that provide services that residents enjoy may also see significant diversion of funds, and a reduction in those same services. Clearly, the impact of these proposed cuts is not limited to the people who are specifically qualified to receive Medicaid. Finally, the reason for these cuts to Medicaid is to extend and expand the tax cuts for the rich, even though the cuts may reduce healthcare access for all of us. How draconian does a proposal have to be before we say “Enough!”?”