Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office released an updated estimate on the impacts of the federal budget reconciliation bill as passed by the House of Representatives. The bill would cause 11 million people to become uninsured (7.8 million through loss of coverage from Medicaid, and 3.2 million from marketplace coverage), and would cut Medicaid funding by $864 billion, an increase from the previous estimate of $770 billion. The specific impacts on Wisconsin are still widely unknown, but these critical impacts are already known:
- “Vulnerable” populations would not be protected from the impact of Medicaid cuts. With the depth and breadth of cuts that are proposed in the bill, there is no way to guarantee protection for any currently eligible Medicaid recipient or population. People with disabilities, children, older adults, and other “vulnerable” individuals WILL be impacted. In fact, ALL health care consumers would be impacted by cuts to Medicaid as well as cuts and changes to health insurance marketplaces; in a letter to Congressional leadership last week, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners stated, “With fewer people covered by Medicaid and private insurance, we expect the legislation to result in more uncompensated care for health care providers and higher costs for those remaining in the market.”
- Medicaid “savings” come from people losing access to health care. The reduction of funding associated with the Medicaid provisions of this bill comes from individuals who are currently eligible for and receiving Medicaid being removed from the program, or from the services these individuals rely on being made ineligible for coverage. This may be through burdensome work reporting requirements, increasing the frequency of eligibility redeterminations, or by states reducing or elimination of coverage for certain services or populations. The “savings” in the bill come at a significant cost to people who will lose access to their health care coverage – and to states who will lose federal funding and be on the hook to pay for the additional red tape.
- Further restricting eligibility for Medicaid means people may not get the care they need. Medicaid is a health insurance program which provides access to health care for individuals who otherwise cannot afford it or who may have health care needs traditional insurance plans do not cover. Without Medicaid, it is likely these individuals would have no other health insurance options and would go without necessary care. Again, this would include people with disabilities, children, older adults, and other Wisconsinites who would be impacted.
In addition to cuts to health care coverage options, cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) proposed in the bill would also have significant impact on populations served by Medicaid and would cost the State of Wisconsin approximately $314 million per year.
As the impacts of the bill continue to be assessed, the truth is clear: if this legislation passes, Wisconsin and Wisconsinites would pay – in state funding, in health care costs, and – for some members of our communities – in lives.
Contacts:
● Janet Zander, Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc., janet.zander@gwaar.org
● Lisa Hassenstab, Disability Rights Wisconsin, lisah@drwi.org
● Tami Jackson, Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, Tamara.jackson@wisconsin.gov
● William Parke-Sutherland, Kids Forward, wparkesutherland@kidsforward.org
