Yesterday’s vote by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee would make the biggest cut in Medicaid history, cutting at least $715 B in federal spending from Medicaid that will have a significant impact on Wisconsin’s disability community.
The Survival Coalition of more than 20 statewide disability organizations has been following the proposed cuts closely, and has great concerns that people with disabilities—including children with complex disabilities, family caregivers, and the statewide community of Medicaid service providers will be harmed by the proposal.
“Despite assurances from policymakers that the disability community will not be touched, the current legislation has no protections that ensure service levels, provider rates, or the overall benefit package remains intact,” said Beth Swedeen, Survival Coalition Co-Chair.
“We already have to find more than a billion dollars in additional state funds just to keep Medicaid at its current level in Wisconsin,” Said Patti Becker, Survival Coalition Co-Chair. “Hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts will absolutely touch people with disabilities, their families, and their providers.”
“This legislation is being sold as a fraud, waste and prevention effort, but contains no tools to improve oversight or include the lived experience of people using the program who could provide valuable insights on ways to genuinely improve the program,” said Jason Glozier, Survival Coalition Co-Chair. “We know that actual fraud is extremely rare and that it is virtually impossible to get into Medicaid programs in Wisconsin without actually qualifying.”
Survival Coalition is also concerned about heightened reporting requirements and frequency proposed in the bill: submitting proof of work or exemption as frequently as every month. A recent bill proposed in Wisconsin, AB163, that would have increased frequency of reporting and updating eligibility from one time per year to twice a year was voted down in committee after extensive testimony from the disability community about the burdens of red tape already present in Medicaid.
Survival Coalition also has great concerns about how proposed cuts of $290 billion in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and added paperwork burdens being proposed in those programs would impact Wisconsin’s disability community. Two-thirds of SNAP participants also use Medicaid programs.
“Wisconsin’s disability community already is vulnerable to increased health and safety concerns. We see serious consequences to reducing necessary health care and food assistance if these bills become law,” Becker said.
