Directors Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, unveiled the long-awaited health care bill and it includes many structural changes to Medicaid that will fundamentally change the way the program works, and will be devastating to millions of low-income families and people with disabilities. And Donald Trump applauded- despite his campaign promises to not cut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
It’s clear why the Senate chose to hide this bill from the public; this bill includes deeper Medicaid cuts than the $840 billion included in the House bill, American Health Care Act (AHCA), and gives the wealthy a tax break at the expense of people with disabilities. The Congressional Budget Office estimated AHCA would throw approximately 24 million people off health insurance and would raise costs of premiums. Gutting Medicaid as suggested under this bill, would be especially devastating to people with
services provided under the program. Right now, there are nearly 10 million enrollees with disabilities who depend on the benefits of Medicaid such as Home and Community-Based Services. Sixty percent of all children with disabilities are covered by Medicaid, many of whom receive life-supporting treatment provided under Medicaid.
The effects of these cuts would not end at the loss of health care services, but would spill over to other programs including Social Security by making it harder for disability claimants seeking Social Security disability benefits to access medical evidence needed to support their claims. Taking away health care from the most vulnerable among us to give a tax break to the wealthy is cruel and irresponsible.Peter Antonowicz, Esq.Rome, NY
