Washington, D.C. — On the 61st anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, Americans across the country are feeling the consequences of Republicans’ choice to put billionaires ahead of their health care. Republicans have launched the largest attack on health care in generations, cutting more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, undermining the care that millions of Americans rely on, and raising the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. As it stands, almost 4 million have lost Medicaid/CHIP coverage, and the losses will continue to grow as Republicans’ health care crisis grows worse.
Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“Sixty-one years ago, our country promised that growing old, getting sick, or falling on hard times would not mean losing access to a doctor. Republicans have broken that promise. Last year, Republicans in Congress made the largest health care cuts in history, slashing over $1 trillion from Medicaid while undermining Medicare and making it harder for millions of Americans to get the care they need.
“Republicans chose to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations by taking health care away from working families, older Americans, people with disabilities, and kids. Now, hospitals are closing, costs are skyrocketing, prescriptions are going unfilled, and Americans are losing life-saving care. But the true cost of Republicans’ cuts won’t only be measured in dollars. It will be measured in the lives they upended and the care Americans were forced to go without. Americans know who caused this health care crisis and they won’t forget the hurt.”
Background
Around 137 million people, or around 40 percent of the country, are enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare, or both.
- Medicaid provides coverage and lifesaving care to more than 67 million, including:
- Nearly half of all children in America (roughly 30 million kids)
- 6 in 10 nursing home residents
- Nearly one million non-elderly veterans
- 4 in 10 births
- 20 percent of adults in rural areas
- More than 1 in 3 people with disabilities
- More than 70 million rely on Medicare for health care coverage, including:
- More than 57 million who are enrolled in Medicare Part D, which covers prescription drugs
- 6 million non-elderly people who qualify for Medicare due to a disability
- Nearly 1.2 million people with limited income and resources enrolled in Extra Help, which lowers prescription drug costs
GOP health care cuts are devastating families, seniors, and communities across the country:
- Families are already paying the price after GOP cuts forced states to cut eligibility and overturned rules designed to mitigate coverage loss from the unwinding of pandemic-era policies.
- Nearly 4 million have already lost their Medicaid or CHIP coverage after Republicans gutted nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid.
- 92 percent of hospital leaders say Medicaid cuts are having a significant financial impact.
- Over 1,100 hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes are facing cuts or closure in the wake of the GOP cuts.
Despite false promises from President Trump, seniors on Medicare are paying the price:
- 1.3 million low-income seniors will lose their dual Medicaid coverage and could be forced to pay thousands more each year in premiums and out-of-pocket costs due to H.R. 1.
- The Trump administration is hiking the price of seniors’ prescription drug coverage.
- Seniors who rely on popular cancer drugs such as Keytruda and Opdivo are being forced to pay likely thousands more for these lifesaving treatments thanks to a GOP blockbuster giveaway to big drug companies.
- The Trump administration is pushing a program using artificial intelligence (AI) to deny seniors medical care their doctors prescribed.
Since the GOP designated the deepest cuts for after midterm elections and Trump used the regulatory process to sharpen the knife, the worst is still yet to come:
- Cruel new work requirements could rip health care away from as many as 10 million people by 2028, including people with cancer, diabetes, and HIV.
- Millions who become uninsured may incur as much as $22,800 in new medical debt annually.
- Trump’s new proposed regulations may triple the size of specific Medicaid cuts, cutting as much as an additional $365 billion from Medicaid.
- Low-income families will be forced to pay as much as $1,650 in new out-of-pocket costs each year due to the Trump sick tax in 2028.