“Medicaid cuts will kill my kids”
Disabled people and supporters gathered June 22 inside the U.S. Capitol to protest proposed cuts to Medicaid in the Senate healthcare bill. “My child is going to die and my family is going to die, and they don’t give a damn about it!” yelled one protester.
Medicaid covers 75 million people, including 10 million disabled people. It covers 40% of all children, 30% of adults with disabilities and 60% of all children with disabilities. It covers services for the disabled that most commercial health insurance doesn’t include.
Both the House and Senate bills will essentially destroy Medicaid as we know it while giving tax cuts for the rich, although the Senate bill is worse. It would give almost $800 billion in tax cuts, mostly for the wealthy, while slashing more than $800 billion from Medicaid. The impact on the poor will be devastating.
What will they go after next?
Stopping these bad bills is not enough. We need healthcare for every person who lives in this country, regardless of ability to pay, and nothing less.
