WASHINGTON – As Congress returns to Capitol Hill to work on a budget blueprint to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda, members of Alabama’s delegation from both sides of the aisle and advocacy groups argue potential Medicaid cuts in that plan could harm children, seniors and working adults.
Alabama has more than a million eligible residents for Medicaid and more than half of the recipients are children, according to a January report. More than half of all births in Alabama are covered by Medicaid.
U.S. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said the Medicaid program is “one of the few things that actually helps people.”
“We don’t want to destroy our health care system in one night, and that’s what it would do,” Tuberville said about potential cuts.
The House budget resolution calls for $880 billion in cuts over the next decade from the Energy and Commerce Committee that oversees Medicaid spending. The budget plan doesn’t directly call for Medicaid cuts but a letter from the Congressional Budget Office shows that the Energy and Commerce Committee can’t hit $880 billion in cuts without touching Medicaid. Non-Medicaid and Medicare spending under the committee’s jurisdiction sits at just $581 billion.
The House and Senate have each adopted their own budget resolutions and will have to agree on the same one before moving forward on the bill.
“There’s been different ideas about how to complete the mission but I think it’s all coming together now,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said during a press conference Tuesday.
Alabama Arise Executive Director Robyn Hyden said Medicaid is critical to supporting health care in the state.
“We are all incredibly reliant on federal Medicaid funding to support our people, especially children, elderly folks, people with disabilities,” Hyden said during a virtual press conference Tuesday with other advocacy groups.
Tuberville expressed some skepticism over potential Medicaid cuts. He said they would not be good for Alabama and that he might not vote for a bill that includes them.
“Not unless they explain to me a good plan of $880 billion from Medicaid,” Tuberville told Alabama Daily News. “(It would) be hard for me to do it.”
Hyden specifically pointed out during Tuesday’s press conference how Medicaid can support working people in the state if it is expanded.
“We also believe in the inherent dignity of every human being, whether or not they’re able to work outside of the home, whether they’re working in the home as an unpaid caregiver for a child or a sick relative, whether they are elderly, disabled, a child or a student, an entrepreneur… Medicaid is a lifeline for over 1 million Alabamians, but too many Alabamians and southerners are still stuck without health coverage, and many of those are working people,” Hyden said.
Hyden said some Alabama lawmakers have previously pitted work against Medicaid but said access to health care can lead to more people pursuing job opportunities. U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, has previously told Alabama Daily News he supports work requirements for Medicaid benefits.
Alabama stands to lose about $824 million a year in federal Medicaid spending if the $880 billion cuts were spread out evenly across 10 years with $88 billion being cut every year, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, said it’s a constant fight to ensure the potential Medicaid cuts don’t hurt Alabamians.
“At the end of the day, Alabama can’t afford to really lose access to Medicaid,” Figures told ADN. “It’s going to hit real people in real places in real ways.”
Tuberville also said he had concerns about how Medicaid cuts could hurt rural hospitals in the state. In Alabama, 19 rural hospitals are at an immediate risk of closing, according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Johnson said he wants the final bill brought to President Trump’s desk by Memorial Day.