Press Contact: Beth Swedeen (608) 220-2924; beth.swedeen@wisconsin.gov
Today, the U.S. House approved the Senate’s deeper cuts to Medicaid and SNAP by a vote of 218 to 214.
Beth Swedeen, Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities Executive Director issued the following statement:
“The disability community is deeply disappointed that Congress has failed to listen to the thousands of constituents across Wisconsin who have been clear about the harm that Medicaid cuts will cause to them, their families, their communities. These cuts are choices, and they have consequences. Just because people’s health care is cut does not mean their health crises go away. Grassroots disability advocates have been vocal and eloquent about what having even a little less help from Medicaid or food assistance would mean for their lives. To have their experience ignored and dismissed is deeply troubling. Elected officials have a hard job, but a simple one: Listen to constituents. The level of harm that this bill will inflict on the people of Wisconsin and every community’s health and economic stability is high, and none of it needed to happen.”
The bill rushed through the U.S. Senate without any public hearings in less than three days with parts being written and rewritten until the final hour before the floor vote. The impact of many added or changed provisions had no formal analysis before the U.S. House passed the bill less than 48 hours after receiving it from the Senate.
According to an initial estimate from the Congressional Budget Office last Saturday—which does not reflect the final language of the bill—the bill would cut Federal spending on Medicaid, Medicare, and ACA Marketplace by more than $1.1 Trillion. More than $1 Trillion of those cuts come from Medicaid alone. At least 11.8 M people would lose health care. These numbers will increase when more detailed analysis of the final bill is done.
The bill also cuts $ 300 Billion in food assistance, taking away food from an estimated 5 Million people. 45% of Wisconsin SNAP participants are people with disabilities. Two-thirds of the people who use SNAP/Foodshare in Wisconsin are also Medicaid participants.
The bill means states will receive less Federal Medicaid money to help run current Medicaid programs (like Family Care, IRIS, CLTS, ForwardHealth Card, etc.), shifts new costs onto states that they don’t have now, and creates big state budget holes.
