Follow Facts, Not Fiction, on Healthcare Impact of Massive Cuts to Medicaid
Much of the public discourse around the budget bills Congress is developing concerns the potential impact on access to and funding for Medicaid, the federally funded health insurance program. Medicaid is a lifeline for millions of Floridians: women and children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities. Medicaid is also important for Florida’s healthcare and economic vitality.
The Congressional Budget Office forecasts the House bill would cut Medicaid funding by at least $600 billion -- with more than ten million people losing eligibility -- while ballooning the federal deficit by $3 trillion. Reports are that the Senate’s version calls for even deeper cuts. KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization, estimates 990,000 Floridians would lose coverage.
January data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows more than 71 million people were enrolled in Medicaid nationwide, with more than 3.5 million enrollees in Florida. People age 65+ and people with disabilities represent 70% of the state’s Medicaid enrollees.
Total Medicaid funding in Florida is $34.6 billion, two-thirds of which comes from the federal government. Florida’s aging population presents an increasing need for hospitals, long term care facilities, and community health centers -- all depending on Medicaid reimbursements -- to provide services and pay staff. For example, Florida Healthcare Association reports Medicaid covers 60% of long-term care costs.
Statewide, hospitals often are the largest employers in a region, and dramatic cuts in funding will have negative impacts on their services, operating budgets and payrolls. In our region, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMH) is the largest employer, with $900 million in payroll to a local workforce of more than 10,000. Hospitalized patients who rely on Medicaid for their primary insurance make up 45% of maternity/labor and delivery patients, 30% of mental health/psychiatric patients, and more than 50% of neonatal intensive care unit patients.
In addition to reducing payments to providers, cuts to Medicaid funding could force states to raise taxes, cut other state programs, and/or reduce benefits and eligibility for currently qualifying Americans. With more uninsured Floridians, emergency room use for primary care will increase, leading to higher costs for everyone.
National leaders at the highest levels have defended the cuts as necessary to trim “waste, fraud and abuse.” To accomplish this goal, they cite the need to impose work requirements and bar undocumented immigrants from enrolling.
A review of the facts belies this rationale. The majority (62%) of Florida’s Medicaid recipients already work. For individuals with disabilities, Medicaid benefits contribute to many recipients’ ability to work. Federal and Florida law already prohibit undocumented immigrants from enrolling in Medicaid. Rather than eliminating fraud, the cuts will cause hospitals, nursing homes, long-term and other facilities more unmanageable debt they may not be able to absorb.
Recent polling shows Medicaid and other social safety net programs have broad bipartisan support. With many Americans rightly worried about the effects of the proposed cuts on their communities, the question for voters is whether cutting Medicaid – while adding more than $3 trillion to the deficit through extending Trump tax cuts and increasing spending on immigration and defense -- is in the country’s best interests.
Such a fundamental question demands we follow facts, not fiction, to understand what is at stake and empower us as voters. In contrast, in the rush to pass this legislation, many in Congress have admitted not even reading the bill’s content.
In its letter to Congress urging opposition to the House bill, The League of Women Voters highlighted the essential care Medicaid provides: “… with millions at risk of losing health care access, the health and well-being of our nation hangs in the balance.”
The LWV of Sarasota County urges voters to research the facts and consider Congress’ own analyses about the costs and benefits of the proposed bills. Contact Senators Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, and ask whether cutting off millions of Florida’s children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities from critical healthcare, thus destabilizing providers and local economies, is consistent with the principles of our democracy.
Vilia Johnson and Rhonda Peters are co-presidents of the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County.