In a brand new letter, 344 organizations urged the brand new Congress – which was sworn in on January 3 – to guard and strengthen Medicaid.

The letter was addressed to Senate Majority Chief John Thune, Home Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer and Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries. Households USA, a healthcare client advocacy group, led the cost for the letter. Different organizations that signed the letter embody the Nationwide Alliance on Psychological Sickness, March of Dimes, UnidosUS and the Middle for Well being Regulation and Coverage Innovation.

It comes as a number of Republican legislative proposals purpose to tighten Medicaid by eliminating or considerably underfunding the ACA Medicaid growth, based on the Middle on Finances and Coverage Priorities, a nonpartisan analysis and coverage institute. The proposals purpose to do that by restructuring and lowering federal funding for this system, or by undermining long-standing protections for enrollees.

Within the letter, the organizations famous that Medicaid is a vital supply of well being care and financial safety for 80 million Individuals, insuring 38 million kids and masking 40% of births within the US.

“The significance of Medicaid can’t be overstated. … It’s the single most vital supply of economic assist that retains rural hospitals open to fulfill the well being wants of their communities,” the organizations mentioned. “It ensures that folks with disabilities have entry to essential house and neighborhood companies and safe significant employment alternatives. It’s the largest payer of behavioral well being companies within the nation, offering very important entry to psychological well being and substance abuse care. And it helps working individuals keep wholesome to allow them to afford to feed their households and ship their kids to high school.”

Moreover, they said that chopping Medicaid was not one thing Individuals had requested for throughout the 2024 election cycle. This may price working households and betray voters, they argued.

“Proposals to restrict funding, cut back the federal share of Medicaid spending, set up block grants, set up work reporting and neighborhood engagement necessities, cut back state income from supplier taxes, or in any other case alter the basic construction of Medicaid program all have the identical impact,” the spokesperson mentioned. letter said. “If that is enacted, Individuals will lose entry to life-saving companies, states will face enormous funds gaps, hospitals and clinics will lose income and be pressured to chop workers and companies, and American households and staff can be disadvantaged of important care can’t pay. and getting sicker – resulting in a lack of productiveness and the economic system struggling in consequence.”

The organizations added that if the 119th Congress desires to scale back well being care prices, “there are lots of well-vetted, common sense, and bipartisan proposals to handle inefficiencies and excessive costs and remove waste from the well being care system.” Based on Households USA, these proposals embody closing authorized loopholes that enable pharmaceutical corporations to extend drug prices, strengthening worth transparency in hospitals and well being plans, and reforming doctor pay.

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