WISCONSIN — Yesterday, Wisconsin State Senator Jeff Smith and State Representative Christian Phelps joined Protect Our Care Wisconsin along with advocates from Wisconsin’s 3rd and 7th Congressional districts to discuss the latest developments in the GOP assault on Medicaid.
In the coming days, Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce committee are nailing down the details of their plan to cut up to $880 billion from Medicaid in order to meet President Trump’s demands to fund tax breaks for the wealthy. Medicaid is an essential component of Wisconsin’s health landscape – providing critical support for Seniors, children, and people with disabilities. The magnitude of an $880 billion cut would have cascading impacts across Wisconsin: for those supported by Medicaid, for the 30,000 Wisconsin businesses who bill Medicaid and their employees, and for the biennial state budget.
Wisconsinites’ access to health care isn’t a bargaining chip, and they shouldn’t pay the price for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. If they get their way, the more than 1.1 million state residents who depend on Medicaid services – from IRIS and Katie Beckett to financial support for those in nursing homes. Speakers included a caregiver and the married couple she works with when not serving as a first responder, as well as a western Wisconsin mom whose daughter was born deaf. Each highlighted the devastating impact gutting coverage would have and called on lawmakers to protect Medicaid from draconian cuts.
“This (Medicaid) is not welfare. This is something that has been earned and part of our fabric in America for a long time,” said Senator Jeff Smith. “It reflects how we believe healthcare is a right not a privilege.”
