Statement on Senate passage of Reconciliation bill

Proposal cuts Medicaid by almost $1 Trillion and SNAP by $300 B

Last month the U.S. House, passed the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history. Today, the U.S. Senate passed even deeper cuts by a vote of 51 to 49.
Beth Swedeen, Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities Executive Director issued the following statement:

“The disability community has been tireless and clear since January about what Medicaid cuts would mean to the health, safety, and ability to stay in the Wisconsin workforce for people with disabilities and family caregivers. The people who need the most care over a life time will feel even the smallest changes. Those changes can be the difference between being forced into an institution or forced out of a job to provide care to a loved one. This bill doesn’t help address any of the issues our current health and long-term care systems have, and the ripple effects of the legislation will touch us all. It will cost Wisconsin in lost health and long term care jobs, higher private health insurance premiums, closed clinics and reduced services, and unpaid caregivers leaving the workforce to fill in what gaps they can. Our policymakers need to work with their constituents on improvements to public programs, rather defaulting to draconian and harmful cuts disguised as reforms.”

The Senate bill would cut Federal spending on Medicaid, Medicare, and ACA Marketplace by more than $1.1 Trillion— with more than $1 Trillion of those cuts coming from Medicaid alone. At least 11.8 M people would lose health care, according to an initial estimate by the Congressional Budget Office. These numbers will increase when more detailed analysis of the amended bill is done.

The bill also cuts $ 300 Billion in food assistance, taking away food from an estimated 5 Million people. 45% of Wisconsin SNAP participants are people with disabilities. Two-thirds of the people who use SNAP/Foodshare in Wisconsin are also Medicaid participants.

The bill means states will receive less Federal Medicaid money to help run current Medicaid programs (like Family Care, IRIS, CLTS, ForwardHealth Card, etc.), shifts new costs onto states that they don’t have now, and creates big state budget holes.