As kids across the country head back to school this fall, millions of families are asking the same question: can we still afford to take our children to the doctor? Republicans’ $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, alongside ripping away health care tax credits, mean 3 million children are expected to lose Medicaid coverage, with another 500,000 expected to go uninsured after losing tax credits, all to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. For families already stretched thin, a routine checkup or a bout with the flu could now mean a choice between medicine and rent. But that’s the choice Republicans are forcing them to make, and hard-working Americans are sick of it.
This summer, Protect Our Care is turning that frustration into action. Our “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” campaign — including “GOP Hot Seat Summer” — is bringing the fight right to Republican lawmakers’ doorsteps by holding empty-chair town halls, organizing petition drop-offs, hosting accountability events, and highlighting stories from Americans harmed by Republicans’ devastating health care cuts. Families across the country are sick of being asked to pay more, travel farther, and settle for less — and they’re making sure their lawmakers hear about it.
Trump and Republican Medicaid Cuts Put Children’s Health in the Crosshairs. Since the passage of the GOP’s H.R. 1, 1.6 million children have lost Medicaid or CHIP coverage. It is estimated that over the next decade, 3 million children will lose insurance through Medicaid alone. Republican funding cuts and increased paperwork, thanks to work reporting requirements, is estimated to result in 10 million people losing Medicaid coverage. When parents lose coverage, so do their children. Access to health care is particularly important in the first few years of life. Coverage ensures that infants born prematurely have access to complex care and regular well visits that prepare young children for kindergarten. Medicaid coverage through childhood is associated with better health later in life, greater financial stability, and higher education levels. With nearly 50 percent of children relying on Medicaid or CHIP for health care coverage, Republicans are putting the success of future generations in jeopardy.
Children With Disabilities Are Among the First to Lose Coverage. 40 percent of children with special health care needs rely on Medicaid for the care they need, including long-term and home based care. Medicaid also allows children to succeed in school by providing critical funding for equipment, services, and personnel that students with Individualized Education Plans require. This includes speech therapy, personal aides, and technology that helps blind and deaf students communicate. This funding ensures schools can provide the wide range of services needed to educate students with disabilities. However, 1 in 5 children with disabilities are classified as “optional” Medicaid enrollees, meaning their eligibility is not required by federal law. As Medicaid cuts continue to hit states, these children will be among the first to lose the Medicaid coverage that they rely on to get care at home and succeed in school.
The GOP’s Failure to Extend ACA Premium Tax Credits Put Families Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Children and parents account for 40 percent of ACA marketplace enrollees, equating to 2.6 million children. Following the expiration of premium tax credits, nearly 500,000 children are estimated to lose or have lost health coverage. If families didn’t lose health care all together, they are now stuck paying double or triple their previous premium amount. Millions of families now have to make the difficult decision between putting food on the table, a roof over their heads, or buying health care.
Republican Health Care Cuts are Putting Children’s Health Providers At Risk of Cuts or Closure. Children’s hospitals and providers are facing a funding cliff thanks to Republicans’ $1 trillion in cuts. Nearly 70 infant or pediatric providers across the country are at risk of or have made cuts or closures since the passage of H.R. 1. The GOP’s bill also caps state-directed payments that children’s hospitals rely on. The Children’s Hospital Association said that cuts to state-directed payments will have a direct impact on children’s health. With a majority of patients in children’s hospitals being covered by Medicaid, cuts made by H.R. 1 will also result in increases in uncompensated care when children need life-saving interventions. As children’s services continue to be cut and staffing shortages continue, underserved communities will face more barriers as families have to travel farther to get the care their children need.
Meet the Parents and Children Being Crushed By Republicans’ Health Care Crisis
In North Carolina, eleven-year-old Finley Thomas relies on Medicaid, which covers about 95% of the care she needs. In her first few months of life, Finley’s heart stopped multiple times; she was diagnosed with a neuromuscular disease, and doctors still haven’t figured out a diagnosis that accounts for all of her medical needs. She has three nurses, tracheostomy and gastrostomy tubes, a wheelchair, and attends physical and occupational therapy weekly. Her nurse, Sandra Little, said, “The ventilator, the feeding pump, we have to have these things for our show to go on. They aren’t options.”
Finley’s parents, Dennis and Jennifer, worry about what will happen if North Carolina cuts funding after Republicans slashed Medicaid last July. As a result, they are trying to make the equipment and supplies last longer. The tracheotomy tube needs to be changed weekly and can be used three times, but the more it is reused, the more likely an infection is. “No one wants to be in this situation where you’re having to jump through all these hoops to get the medical supplies you need for your child,” said Jennifer. [Cardinal & Pine]
In Winooski, Vermont, Arica Bronz made the difficult decision to cancel health insurance for her family of four when premiums jumped from $1,100 to $2,700 per month after Republicans ended the health care tax credits that helped her family get covered. “We’re trying to get all the scans done and just make sure we’re tip-top healthy before we make the leap. I can’t tell you how much sleep I’ve lost considering what it’s like to jump in this day and age to no health care for a family.”
She said it was “terrifying” to no longer have the “safety net” they had relied on. [VT Digger]
In Kansas, Dr. Ryan Jolly worries that more children will end up in foster care as a result of biological parents not being able to afford health care. “Every bad thing you can think of is what happens when children are denied medical care,” said Dr. Jolly.
She has seen it with her own eyes, as her practice focuses on children who have “adverse childhood events,” such as physical trauma or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), and she is an adoptive and foster parent herself. In her care is an eight-year-old boy who was not expected to survive after suffering violent trauma. “He needs 24/7, eyes-on care. He won’t stop needing that care to stay alive just because the funding stopped. That will mean that I will have to leave the workforce, close my practice, and probably end up on Medicaid myself to provide his care until I just cannot physically do it anymore.”
Instead of protecting the health care millions of kids rely on, she said Republicans are “making choices that mean the death of children.” [The American Prospect]