National Patient Organizations United in Opposition to House Budget Resolution that Threatens Medicaid Coverage for Millions

The House of Representatives this week will consider a budget resolution instructing the House Energy and Commerce Committee to reduce spending by $880 billion, with most cuts anticipated to target Medicaid. These reductions would have a devastating impact on the nearly 80 million Americans who depend on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for health care coverage.

In response, 38 national patient advocacy organizations have released a joint statement, urging lawmakers to vote no on this and protect Medicaid.

Read the full letter below or download it here.

We need your help to protect cancer patients’ access to Medicaid!

The House of Representatives will consider the budget resolution approved by the House Budget Committee this week.
Call your Member of Congress to demand a “NO” vote on the House budget resolution, which could deny many Americans access to Medicaid.

Call 202-224-3121 to be connected to the office of your Representative.

The message to Members of Congress:

VOTE NO on the House budget resolution. Only a no vote will protect millions of Americans from losing Medicaid benefits.
More than 2 million cancer survivors – including one in three newly diagnosed children with cancer – are at risk of losing Medicaid access under the budget resolution you will consider this week.
Losing Medicaid means losing access to preventive care, early detection and diagnosis, cancer treatment, and long-term survivorship care.
Cutting Medicaid is not just numbers on a page; it is a cut to health care for many Americans. Real people will be harmed by Medicaid cuts.
Stop the House budget resolution and its attack on Medicaid and on cancer patients who rely on Medicaid.

Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of cancer patients! Please share this message with your network. We need to flood Congress with calls from constituents.

MORE about the budget resolution:

A budget resolution is a budget plan that includes spending targets for the federal government and can also identify areas for savings on federal spending. The House budget resolution that is up for full House consideration is the blueprint for President Trump’s tax cuts, border spending, and cuts in federal spending.
This week, the House of Representatives will consider a budget resolution that calls for $880 billion in federal savings from programs in the jurisdiction of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will almost certainly be achieved by slashing Medicaid spending.
Experts and Members of Congress agree that the Energy and Commerce Committee can achieve the amount of savings assigned to the committee only by making major changes in Medicaid. These changes would effectively terminate Medicaid benefits for many.
President Trump has said that Medicaid cuts will not affect people but instead will only require efficiency in the program. Experts and many state Medicaid officials say that cutting almost a trillion dollars from Medicaid cannot be achieved by efficiencies; real people will suffer.
One Medicaid reform that is cited is to require able-bodied adult workers on Medicaid to work, be in school or job training, or do volunteer work. This requirement, which may sound reasonable on its face, is unnecessary because most able-bodied adults on Medicaid are already in the work force.
In states that have tried work requirements, Medicaid enrollees have been thrown off the rolls for technical, bureaucratic, or reporting glitches, even if they were already in the workforce. The experience with work requirements is troubled and unnecessary in light of the fact that most adult enrollees who can work already do.