As I’ve written, the House Republicans passed a reconciliation bill which, among other things, imposes deadly cuts to Medicaid and ends premium subsidies for people with low incomes in the state health insurance exchanges. It pushes more than 13 million people off their health insurance, ravages rural and inner-city hospitals, and destroys thousands of jobs. On Monday, the Senate Republicans on the Finance Committee passed a reconciliation bill with even deadlier cuts.
The Senate Republicans are also slashing payments to Medicaid providers–physicians, hospitals and nursing facilities. These additional cuts will likely mean that 16 million people will lose their health insurance and people with Medicaid will lose access to some benefits, including home care, mental health care, and K-12 education, nutrition and public safety.
It bears repeating that these cuts are all to pay for tax giveaways to ultra-wealthy Americans. And, the Republicans’ Senate Finance bill goes farther than the House bill in benefiting the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office just released an updated analysis of the consequences of the bill that passed the House. CBO finds that the House bill would increase the deficit by about $2.8 over the next ten years. We don’t yet have an estimate of the effects of the Senate Finance bill on the deficit.
What we do know is that the Republicans’ Senate Finance bill will likely decimate rural hospitals and rural communities. It penalizes states that expanded Medicaid to people up to 135 percent of the federal poverty level. It also includes a policy that will deny more than two million Americans access to basic reproductive health care, cancer screenings and other essential services.
As with the House bill, the Republicans’ Senate Finance bill ends Affordable Care Act coverage for small business owners, employees, family caregivers, gig workers and millions of other people who buy their own health insurance. More people will be uninsured, and more hospitals will not generate the revenue needed to stay afloat. Some states might not be able to stand up their health insurance exchanges.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Proposed Medicaid cuts would mean benefit cuts for 1.4 million people with Medicare
- Medicare Advantage endangers rural hospitals
- Republican Josh Hawley argues against Medicaid cuts
- Federal cuts to Medicaid will have devastating consequences for older adults and people with disabilities
- House reconciliation bill would push millions off Medicaid
