Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the country, providing health care to more than 70 million people. It covers one in five Americans, including kids, moms, seniors, people of color, rural Americans, and people with disabilities. Medicaid plays a key role in ensuring access to care for hard-working families across the country. Medicaid is the largest payer for mental health, maternal health, and senior care in the country. Medicaid covers nearly 2 in 3 nursing home residents and 41 percent of births.
Last month the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress passed a bill that includes the largest cuts to Medicaid funding in history in order to give huge tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. The plan passed with 218 Republicans voting in favor in the House and 50 Republicans voting in favor in the Senate. No Democrats voted for the bill.
The bill
- Rips health coverage away from an estimated more than 15 million Americans, including children, seniors, people with disabilities, and an estimated 1.8 million Americans in rural areas.
- Cuts over $1.1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
- Hikes premiums for over 24 million Americans who buy insurance on their own including small business owners, rural Americans, and early retirees
- Threatens to shutter over 330 hospitals, 570 nursing homes, and hundreds of clinics across the country, forcing more Americans to travel further for maternity care and emergency rooms, and face longer wait times.
- Requires $8.2 billion in new copayments for lifesaving health care from low-income families already struggling to get by
- Contains a $5 billion giveaway to drug companies that will hike prescription drug prices for seniors and taxpayers