You’re probably familiar with the old adage, The devil’s in the details.
But for Congressional Republicans and the Trump White House, the “details” of their budget plan are nothing short of cruel and inhumane.
The bottom line: In order to pay for massive tax cuts for the richest Americans, the GOP would rip away healthcare coverage from nearly 9 million people who can least afford to lose such benefits.
“Millions of people would lose health insurance coverage under various Republican options to cut Medicaid spending to pay for President Trump’s domestic policy agenda, according to an analysis the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released Wednesday,” The Hill reports.
“For instance, a cap on Medicaid spending for beneficiaries in the expansion population would save $225 billion and result in 1.5 million additional people being uninsured by 2034.”
There is also a provision that would limit state provider taxes, amounting to a saving of $668 billion. But that would result in at least 3.9 million losing their insurance.
If all of the GOP proposals were implemented, as many as 8.9 million people currently on Medicaid would have no access to affordable healthcare.
“This analysis from the non-partisan, independent CBO is straightforward: the Republican plan for health care means benefit cuts and terminated health insurance for millions of Americans who count on Medicaid,” Sen. Ron Wyden (OR) said. “Republicans continue to use smoke and mirrors to try to trick Americans into thinking they aren’t going to hurt anybody when they proceed with this reckless plan, but fighting reality is an uphill battle.”
While some moderate Republicans have said they cannot support cuts to Medicaid, right-wing hardliners in the House are demanding that the program be cut back to “stop robbing from the vulnerable to fund the able-bodied.”
In other words, to make sure that the rich receive a $5 trillion tax cut, millions of Americans have to lose their access to healthcare, which would devastate them and lead to a much less healthy populace. Does that sound fair, or does it sound like the sort of thing that is meant to kill off millions of our fellow citizens?
If this budget manages to make it through the House and Senate (which seems unlikely), expect to see marches and protests across this country. We cannot sit idly by and let the GOP inflict this kind of suffering on our fellow Americans.
