In response to House Republicans moving forward with their disastrous budget reconciliation bill that puts Idaho families last, Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea released the following statement:

“Republicans Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher just showed us whose side they’re on, and it’s not Idaho families. There’s no way to cut $880 billion from Medicaid without taking healthcare away from seniors living in long-term care, children, and people with disabilities. Gutting food assistance by $230 billion puts kids and families at risk of going hungry. The House GOP plan clearly favors the extremely wealthy, who stand to receive enormous tax breaks while regular families have nothing to gain and so much to lose.”

Donald Trump – and House Republicans – have repeatedly proposed gutting Medicaid to pay for their billionaire tax handouts, even as this program serves 79 million Americans, including many Idahoans in rural communities.

Sarah Ferris: “House budget plan is out. Besides 2 years of debt limit + $4.5T in tax cuts and $200B in border, there’s BIG news for fiscal hawks

“It calls for $2T in *mandatory* cuts, aka Medicaid”

KFF Health News: “Republicans in Washington say they plan to use funding cuts and regulatory changes to dramatically shrink Medicaid, the nearly $900-billion-a-year government health insurance program that, along with the related Children’s Health Insurance Program, serves about 79 million mostly low-income or disabled Americans. …

“Advocates for poor people fear GOP funding cuts will leave more Americans without insurance, making it harder for them to get care.

“If the GOP’s plans to shrink Medicaid are realized, Democrats and health experts say, low-income people forced to buy private insurance would face challenges paying monthly premiums and the large copayments and deductibles common to commercial plans that typically don’t exist in Medicaid.”

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “President Trump has made clear that his goal remains to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including its expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults, and to impose rigid caps on the federal government’s Medicaid spending.”

In his FY18, FY19, FY20, and FY21 budgets, Trump repeatedly proposed hundreds of billions in cuts to Medicaid.

Georgetown University Center for Children and Families: “Cuts to Medicaid Will Shift Costs to Families, Providers and Will Be Especially Harmful to Rural Communities”

“Medicaid covers almost 80 million people in total – roughly four times as many people as covered by the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces and considerably more than the roughly 48 million seniors covered by Medicare.”

Republicans’ Medicaid cuts would be a disaster for our seniors, and could “force retirees out of nursing homes.”

New York Times: “Medicaid Cuts May Force Retirees Out of Nursing Homes”

Skilled Nursing News: “‘Devastating’: Medicaid Cuts in Republican Crosshairs, With Nursing Homes Seen as Bearing Major Pain”

“‘Any serious Medicaid cuts will have a major impact on long-term supports and services, broadly defined to include nursing homes, home health and personal care,’ [Brian] Ellsworth told Skilled Nursing News. ‘Those services comprise over a third of Medicaid spending nationally and would certainly be under the chopping block at the state level if serious cuts were made to Medicaid in Washington.’”

Republicans’ budget plan also targets SNAP cuts, which would prevent millions of Americans from putting food on the table.  

Politico: “House GOP budget plan targets deep SNAP cuts”

“But the new plan to be marked up by the House Budget Committee on Thursday contains instructions for the Agriculture Committee to slash $230 billion across programs under its purview, meaning work requirements and changes to state waivers alone won’t reach that target number, said the lawmakers with knowledge about the ongoing talks.”

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Millions of Low-Income Households Would Lose Food Aid Under Proposed House Republican SNAP Cuts”

“The budget resolution that the House plans to take up this week directs the House Agriculture Committee to cut programs in its jurisdiction by at least $230 billion through 2034, with these cuts expected to come largely or entirely from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and to be used to help pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest business owners and households.”