MORE WORK TO BE DONE…
H.R. 1, which aims to cut hundreds of billions of dollars to Medicaid, has been passed. This means that almost 17 million people are at risk of losing their health insurance, nearly 300 rural hospitals could shut down, impacting people with disabilities in rural areas, and community health centers will not be able to stay open. These are resources that people with disabilities use more than other communities, and the passing of this bill will negatively impact people with disabilities’ health outcomes.
The CHIRblog noted that they are going to “work with anyone interested in an accessible, affordable and equitable health system to identify and take advantage of opportunities to reverse the law’s worst abuses. As Mr. T once said, ‘To have a comeback, you got to have a setback.’”
The American Association of People with Disabilities responded in a press release on the impacts that this will have on people with disabilities. “This is a devastating day for disabled Americans. The catastrophic effects of this bill will reverberate for generations to come. As a result of this bill, 51,000 Americans will die every single year from needless, preventable deaths,” a quote from AAPD President Maria Town.
Community Catalyst released a news piece on the large cuts from this bill, noting the increased healthcare costs, more medical debt, and hospital closures. “This isn’t fiscal discipline – it’s economic sabotage that every employer, caregiver, and family will feel in higher premiums, lost productivity, and worsened health outcomes,” a quote from the Deputy Director of Communications at the organization.
FamiliesUSA released a statement, with the executive director, Anthony Wright, stating: “This vote is a wrecking ball to our health system and a gut punch to all of us who fight for better health and health care for all, but we know the fight isn’t over,” following up with: “While we reel from this serious setback, we recommit to push for real solutions that will actually expand access, lower costs and improve the quality of our health care for all.”
The Kaiser Family Foundation has continued to review in a tracker the budget reconciliation bill and broke up the summary into Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare, and Health Savings Accounts. It also notes changes that were made to the bill from the Senate to the House. This is an important tool for the disability community to keep track of what has happened.
The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) will be tracking and providing technical assistance to states and their Medicaid Advisory Committees (MAC) and Beneficiary Advisory Councils (BAC). MAC-BACs are supposed to give people who use Medicaid a direct role in how Medicaid will work for them, but the issue is that less than half of the states have actually implemented them.
The disability community utilizes Medicaid, and the ACA Marketplace plans at a higher rate than those without disabilities due to their unique needs. Due to this, the NDNRC wants to make sure that people with disabilities are aware of changes to their healthcare due to major funding cuts to federal healthcare programs.
By updating this newsletter with resources and educational pieces on where disability health policies stand, we hope to ensure that the disability community continues to have access to accessible and affordable healthcare coverage no matter what changes occur in the foreseeable future.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.