Hundreds of rural hospitals nationwide at risk of closing; food assistance programs to face significant budget shortfalls
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, along with his Senate colleagues who also previously served as state governors, sent a letter to Republican leadership about the devastating impacts the Senate reconciliation budget bill would have on states. They laid out their significant concerns about how this partisan bill will place incredible burdens on state budgets, ultimately reducing critical services like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“Red and blue states alike must balance their budgets, which means every dollar in added federal cost must be made up by either raising new revenues or making harmful cuts. If the reconciliation bill is passed, even in the best of times, states would need to spend billions more to provide similar or equal Medicaid and SNAP services and benefits. Should a severe economic downturn occur, states will be faced with an even more dire budgetary outlook,” wrote the former governors and current senators.
The senators continued: “It is not too late to reverse course instead of cutting critical programs and shifting massive costs on to state taxpayers to offset tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest taxpayers.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s estimates that the legislation will force 17 million Americans off their health insurance and increase our national debt by trillions. Nearly 80 million Americans are enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) nationally. Medicaid covers the care for over 60% of all nursing home residents. The Republican budget proposal calls for extreme Medicaid cuts of more than $700 billion, which would take away people’s health benefits; make it harder for them to see their health care providers; and prevent seniors from getting nursing home care.
On Medicaid, the senators wrote: “States will be forced to raise taxes or make cuts to these critical healthcare services or other important priorities, like education, childcare, housing, or disaster relief and recovery efforts. In fact, recent evidence shows that when states lose Medicaid funding, it is often Medicaid benefits that help seniors and people with disabilities, like coverage for home- and community-based care, that are first to be cut. The impact of these cuts – some of which are even deeper in the reconciliation bill released by the Senate Finance Committee – will also be especially felt by hospitals, nursing homes, and other health facilities particularly in rural communities.”
The budget bill also cuts over $200 billion from SNAP, the largest reduction in the program’s history.
“As former governors, we are concerned that state governments will be forced to absorb both the administrative burden and the human cost of implementing and enforcing these changes, all while attempting to meet the basic needs of constituents left without assistance. SNAP currently supports 42 million Americans—including children, seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans—and provides vital economic stability during downturns. If these changes are enacted, millions of people—including families with children, seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans—would see their food assistance either eliminated entirely or reduced significantly. This will destabilize state budgets and unravel the basic assistance program that helps people weather economic hardship,” the senators explained.
Hickenlooper has voted against the Republicans’ disastrous budget twice on the Senate floor and will vote against it again when the final bill comes to the Senate floor.
Hickenlooper was joined on the letter by U.S. Senators Angus King, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Maggie Hassan, and Jeanne Shaheen.
To read the full letter, click HERE.
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