The House will probably vote tonight on their version of the federal budget. Others here at DKos have done a great job
staying on top of the Senate budget bill, but if you thought the Senate's budget was bad, brace yourself: the House budget is
much worse. Unlike the Senate's version, the House Medicaid cuts would severely hurt Medicaid recipients,
especially children from low-income families, while cutting taxes for the rich
again to the tune of
$70 billion.
We have set up an action alert so that activists can contact their members of Congress in anticipation of the House vote. You can also call using our toll-free number: 1-800-828-0498.
Please contact your Representative before the vote tonight!
More info on the jump.
Unlike the Senate, which last week passed a budget with Medicaid cuts that manage not to hurt beneficiaries, the House is considering
$11 billion in Medicaid cuts that would greatly harm Medicaid recipients. The House's cuts would come mostly from raising copayments and premiums, which would hurt recipients and could keep many low-income Americans from enrolling in the program (
see here for our side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate proposals).
Children would bear a significant part of the brunt of the cuts:
New Medicaid premiums would result in an estimated one million children losing health coverage nationwide, according to research by PICO National Network, a faith-based organization that works to expand access to health care.
The House budget set for vote on Thursday cuts $6.5 billion by allowing states to charge low-income children and families new premiums and co-pays and by reducing their benefits. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) 55 percent of the $12 billion in cuts to Medicaid in the House bill come directly from beneficiaries, not from cracking down on waste and abuse.
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Under the House budget six million children who live just above the poverty level would be exposed to new access fees that could reach up to five percent of their family income. A family of three living on $21,500 could be asked to pay $1,078 yearly.
One million children whose families could not afford new premiums would be expected to lose health coverage, based on an analysis by PICO National Network entitled Do No Harm: The impact of access fees on children's health. Almost all children who lose Medicaid coverage will be left without insurance and children who lose coverage because their families cannot afford premiums would be denied even preventive care.
As we deal with economic uncertainty, rising energy costs and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, giving away $70 billion in tax cuts to the rich while cutting health care for children and low-income Americas is clearly the wrong thing to do.
Please email your Representative using our action alert or use our toll-free number: 1-800-828-0498. Congress needs to hear from Kossacks everythere that this not the time to weaken America's safety net!