As Congress returns to Capitol Hill to work on a budget blueprint to enact the administration’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-Alabama, 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.
Inevitable 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.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Alex Angle and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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