Protect Our Care Releases New Report Detailing How GOP Medicaid Cuts Are Blowing a Hole in State Budgets
Washington, D.C. – Today, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, Colorado Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera, Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources Marvin Figueroa, Pennsylvania Secretary of Human Services Valerie A. Arkoosh, former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, and former Medicaid Director Daniel Tsai joined Protect Our Care to expose the damage of Republican Medicaid cuts. During the call, Protect Our Care released a report detailing how Republicans’ sweeping health care cuts are blowing holes in state budgets, forcing painful tradeoffs, stripping coverage from millions, and putting essential care increasingly out of reach.
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans gutted over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, all to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations, and the ramifications are causing devastation across the country. More than 15 million Americans are at risk of losing coverage, and over 900 hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other critical providers are closing, cutting essential services, or are at risk of doing so since Trump and the GOP passed their big, ugly bill. As the repercussions mount, states are scrambling — spending millions to plug budget gaps, weighing tax increases to keep hospitals open, cutting critical services for seniors and children with disabilities, and even considering rolling back Medicaid expansion altogether.
“Republicans found the money for billionaire tax breaks. They couldn’t find it for a kid’s inhaler,” said Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, MSN, MPH, RN. “This is not a budget cut. That’s cruelty with a price tag. Health care is not a talking point. It’s whether a mom can afford her kids’ medicine. It’s whether a grandmother can pay for that hospital bill and groceries in the same week. It’s whether your hospital in town is still open when you need it. Wisconsin is doing everything we can, but we can’t patch a hole this big from the state level alone.”
“Here in Colorado, the Polis-Primavera administration and partners across the state have worked since day one to make it easier and more affordable for Coloradans to access health care,” said Colorado Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera. “The unfortunate reality is recent federal changes made by Congressional Republicans directly undermine the vital progress we have made and reduce access to critical care. In my experience as a patient and an advocate, I’ve seen firsthand how reckless changes like these impact millions of people and reduce health care access for everyone.”
“Republicans’ bill makes it really, really difficult for us to keep the coverage that people need in order to be productive citizens,” said Marvin Figueroa, Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources. “I’m thinking about the families in Norfolk, who I just visited with a couple of weeks ago, who are working two or three jobs. I’m thinking about the families in Marion, Virginia, southwest Virginia, who are having to figure out, because of this bill, how to put food on the table. It feels like a betrayal in many ways.”
“I have spent nearly 20 years using my experience as a physician to fight for a health care system that actually can meet patients’ needs — and the structures and supports that keep our health care system standing for all of us,” said Valerie A. Arkoosh, Pennsylvania Secretary of Human Services. “Medicaid is at the heart of that, and never have we faced a threat quite as grave as what the federal government has forced on states. I hear the anxiety and fear in the voices of Pennsylvanians and providers. The ripple effects will be felt far beyond our Medicaid program. H.R. 1 is putting our entire health care system at risk, and states alone cannot solve this crisis.”
“This difficult situation that we find ourselves in was not inevitable,” said Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Former CMS Administrator. “This was a choice by the administration and Congress and it can be undone. When you focus on doing good things, on making our health care more affordable, people see those effects. We should not be making it difficult for every single mom, every single person with disabilities, every single individual to go through red tape.”
“I can’t overstate the magnitude of the challenge that states are facing,” said Daniel Tsai, Former Medicaid Director. “When I talk to my former colleagues running Medicaid programs all across the country, people are panicked. What Congress and the President have enacted will lead to many people who are eligible for Medicaid not being able to navigate a deeply complex, unprepared system. This will have a real impact on children, families, working adults, and people with disabilities that we care for. What we are dealing with here is not unique, it is happening all across the country as a result of Republican actions.”
“Donald Trump and Republicans blew a massive hole in our health care system to bankroll tax giveaways for billionaires and big corporations,” said Anne Shoup, Protect Our Care, Senior Advisor. “Now, states are scrambling to pick up the pieces, facing impossible budget choices, cuts to essential services, and the threat of hospital closures that will devastate communities. Hard-working families are being crushed under the weight of GOP cuts as out-of-pocket costs skyrocket and access to life-saving care shrinks. These cuts are destabilizing health care systems across the country and putting millions of families at risk. Americans are paying the price for Republicans’ reckless betrayal, and the damage is only beginning to unfold.”
