House Votes Again to Approve $880 Billion in Medicaid Cuts to Fund Tax Breaks for the Wealthy
Washington, D.C. — House Republicans voted to press forward with their budget that includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. Their budget threatens to rip health care away from more than 70 million Americans, including children, seniors in nursing homes, veterans, people fighting cancer, and working families. Medicaid not only supports the health and well-being of millions of Americans, it strengthens local economies, sustains rural hospitals and community health centers, ensures access to critical long-term care services, and more. With their vote today, Republicans are rapidly closing in on their goal of slashing the largest health care provider in the country just to give tax cuts to billionaires and big companies.
In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“This vote marks a dark day in American history. By cutting Medicaid, Republicans are pulling the rug out from under everyday Americans. One in five Americans depends on Medicaid to access essential care, from seeing a doctor and filling prescriptions to receiving life-saving treatments. Medicaid is a lifeline, but instead of listening to the cries of the American people, Republicans are hellbent on delivering Trump’s billionaire tax cuts on a silver platter.
“Republicans can lie all day about what this vote means, but the truth is that they voted for devastating Medicaid cuts in order to hand out tax breaks for the rich. At a time when Trump is tanking the economy and ripping apart the nation’s public health system with the help of Elon Musk, Americans cannot afford these devastating cuts to Medicaid.”
April is Medicaid Awareness Month, and Protect Our Care is leading the charge to defend Medicaid and the care that Americans count on. Throughout the month of April, Protect Our Care will release reports, publish fact sheets, host events around the country, and continue its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign, demanding Republicans abandon their cuts to Medicaid.
Background:
The Republican Budget Takes Health Care Away From Working People, Seniors, Veterans, And Children To Give Tax Breaks To The Rich. As the Georgetown Center for Children and Families found, Republicans’ math does not add up. The CBO confirmed that Republicans cannot make their proposed $880 billion in cuts without drastically cutting Medicaid and throwing millions of hardworking families off their coverage, closing rural hospitals, and kicking seniors out of nursing homes.
Medicaid Is Extremely Popular, And Voters Will Hold Republicans Accountable For Ripping It Away From Their Loved Ones and Neighbors. Recent polling found that 71 percent of voters who backed Trump say cutting Medicaid would be unacceptable. Republicans are making a grave mistake by assuming the voters who supported them, many of whom rely on Medicaid, are not smart enough to see through their lies. Even Steve Bannon is warning Republicans against cutting Medicaid, arguing they are “dead wrong” if they don’t think “a lot of MAGAs [are] on Medicaid.”