Their view: Cuts would decimate health care funding

Families USA, a national organization for health care consumers, issued this press release on proposed Medicaid and Meidcare cuts.

The budget legislation passed last week in the U.S. House of Representatives along partisan lines would decimate health care funding in states across the country, according to a pair of reports released Tuesday. The cuts would exceed $2.75 trillion over the next decade, and would range from $5.3 billion in Wyoming to $303.8 billion in California.

The reports are based on the budget's cuts over the next 10 years in Medicaid, Medicare, and tax credit subsidies designed to make health care premiums more affordable for middle class families.

The $2.75 trillion, 10-year cuts do not include other major changes that would occur later on in the Medicare program. Specifically, the budget legislation would change eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67 years of age and convert Medicare to a voucher program, while requiring seniors and people with disabilities to pay thousands of dollars more each year for their coverage.

The cutbacks arise from four sets of changes included in the House-passed bill:

• converting Medicaid to a block grant and cutting $810 billion in funding to the states
• eliminating the Medicaid expansion in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a reduction in state funding of $932 billion
• eliminating ACA-established tax credit premium subsidies for middle class families, a reduction in funding of $806 billion;
• and a variety of Medicare cuts totaling $205 billion.

"The House Republican budget not only slashes funding to the states, it would decimate health coverage for seniors, people with disabilities, children, and middle class families," said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA.

"It would force seniors to pay thousands of dollars more for Medicare coverage and would take away their ability to afford needed medicines. It would cause people with disabilities to lose needed home- and community-based care they now receive through Medicaid. It would eliminate the tax credit subsidies for middle class families that make health premiums affordable. And it would cause millions of children and other family members to lose health coverage."