On Feb 13th, U.S. Representative Buddy Carter voted in favor of a budget bill to cut Medicaid.

“This budget rips health care away from millions while handing out $4.5 trillion in tax breaks, the overwhelming majority of which go to billionaires and wealthy corporations,” explained Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. “It slashes at least $230 billion from food assistance programs at a time when grocery prices remain at record highs. And it proposes, and I hope every American listens to this, it proposes at least $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. … All so billionaires can get even a bigger tax cut that they don’t need and the hard-working people in this country can’t afford to give them.”

“Buddy Carter, who began the week trying to rename Greenland ‘Red, White, and Blueland,’ has moved on to greenlighting drastic cuts to Medicaid and the ACA, which millions of Georgians rely on, just to get a pat on the head from Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” said DPG spokesman Alex Yerkey. “Georgians need our Members of Congress to do what’s best for Georgia, and that means standing up to any president when they are wrong – and strip-mining our government to fund trillions in additional tax cuts for their billionaire friends is wrong.”

Health care experts note that disruptions in health care delivery mean that our most vulnerable patients will see reduced access to primary care, an inability to fill prescriptions, and a greater likelihood of seeking care in emergency rooms — or forgoing it entirely — where providing care costs the most. “Loss of Medicaid coverage means people will be less healthy and their care will ultimately cost more,” explained Michael Tuffin, CEO of American Health Insurance Providers, a health insurance trade association.