PHI and Other Organizations Tell Congress: Don’t Cut Medicaid
Medicaid must not be subjected to harmful cuts or drastic restructuring, says a letter to Congress (pdf) signed by more than 160 organizations, including PHI.
“There is little room to cut in Medicaid other than the health care services that seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income women and children rely upon,” the letter says.
PHI joins a coalition of health care organizations, social justice groups, and other organizations — including AARP, the NAACP, the Consumer Voice, Visiting Nurse Services of America, and Wider Opportunities for Women — in signing the December 18 letter.
Medicaid is the primary payer for long-term care services in the U.S., according to a June 2012 fact sheet (pdf) by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Medicaid paid for 43 percent of long-term care in 2009, the last year for which data are available.
Additionally, many direct-care workers rely on Medicaid for health care. Nearly one out of five direct-care workers (18 percent) received health coverage (pdf) from a public insurance program such as Medicaid in 2009, according to PHI research.
Advocates want to make sure that Medicaid is not “on the table” as President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R, Ohio) discuss which federal programs should have their budgets cut in order help avert the “fiscal cliff” at the end of the year.
— by Matthew Ozga
