World News | Republicans Consider Cuts and Work Requirements for Medicaid, Jeopardising Care for Millions
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million US adults and children enrolled in the safety net programme.
Washington, Feb 18 (AP) Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million US adults and children enrolled in the safety net programme.
Millions more Americans signed up for taxpayer-funded health care coverage like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act's marketplace during the Biden administration, a shift lauded by Democrats as a success.
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But Republicans, who are looking to slash federal spending and offer lucrative tax cuts to corporations and wealthier Americans, now see a big target ripe for trimming. The USD 880 billion Medicaid programme is financed mostly by federal taxpayers, who pick up as much as 80 per cent of the tab in some states. And states, too, have said they're having trouble financing years of growth and sicker patients who enrolled in Medicaid.
To whittle down the budget, the GOP-controlled Congress is eyeing work requirements for Medicaid. It's also considering paying a shrunken, fixed rate to states. All told, over the next decade, Republican lawmakers could try to siphon billions of dollars from the nearly-free health care coverage offered to the poorest Americans.
Weeks before Congress began debating those changes, Republican governors in Arkansas, Ohio and South Dakota were making moves to implement Medicaid work rules of their own, likely to be approved by President Donald Trump's administration.
And other cuts could be on the way. Already on Friday, the Republican administration announced it would shrink the Affordable Care Act's navigator program annual budget by 90 per cent to USD 10 million. Navigators are stationed throughout the country to help people enroll in ACA and Medicaid coverage and are credited with boosting the programmes' enrollment in recent years.
What Republicans are proposing
Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana has floated the idea of tying work to Medicaid.
“It's common sense,” Johnson said. “Little things like that make a big difference not only in the budgeting process but in the morale of the people. You know, work is good for you. You find dignity in work.”
But about 92 per cent of Medicaid enrollees are already working, attending school or caregiving, according to an analysis by KFF, a health policy research firm.
Republicans have suggested a work requirement similar to the conditions for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme, commonly called food stamps. Those ages 16 to 59 must work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month if they are not in school, caring for a child under age 6, disabled, pregnant or homeless. On average, a SNAP enrollee's monthly household income is USD 852, and the enrollee typically receives USD 239 in benefits.
During a GOP House retreat last month at Trump's golf resort in Doral, Florida, Republicans said the requirement could motivate people to find employment — maybe even a job that comes with health insurance.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif, said the spending cuts should not be “on the back of the poor and needy" but instead target those who shouldn't be getting the benefit.
“Why should somebody literally sit on the beach and surf, buy their sandwiches from the food truck with their food stamps and then pick up low-cost housing and so on, while writing a book," Issa said, noting that he was describing a constituent from more than a decade ago.
Other cuts on the table include a proposal to change the federal government's reimbursement to a per-person limit.
That would shift the costs to states, which might be forced to make tough choices about who or what they cover, said Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown Centre for Children and Families.
“People still have health care needs even if you cut their coverage,” Alker said. “Their health care needs are not going to go away.”
Cuts to the programme could also prompt upset, with just over half of US adults saying the government spends “too little” on Medicaid. Only 15 per cent say it's spending “too much,” according to a January Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)