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Bishop William J. Barber, founder and president of Repairers of the Breach recently called budgets “moral documents.”
His organization recently released a report co-authored with the Institute for Policy Studies and the Economic Policy Institute which examines the draconian budget cuts being proposed by Congress and the new administration, and shows how these “moral” cuts will impact vulnerable people across the nation.
One area of the federal budget slated for deep cuts is Medicaid, the federal health insurance program on which millions of low income individuals, including children, people with disabilities, senior adults and low-wage workers depend.
The report indicates that over $880 billion in cuts to the program over 10 years are proposed which could mean the loss of coverage for over 36 million people.
Let’s bring this closer to home. A February report in the North Carolina Health News indicated that of the approximately 3 million Medicaid beneficiaries in North Carolina, a little over 39% of these individuals live in rural counties. A chart from this report shows that 18,885 Medicaid recipients live in Stanly County, which represents about 29% of our friends and neighbors. Additionally, 3,500 of these individuals were enrolled during the recent expansion period which began in December 2023.
These cuts will have many negative consequences. For example, North Carolina has in place a “trigger law” which would automatically reverse Medicaid expansion if the federal government’s matching funds drop below the 90% cost threshold. Since the state legislature is not likely to pick up this funding, these people will lose their coverage.
KFF, an independent source for health policy research, reported that in 2024, Medicaid was the primary source of funding for 61% of nursing home residents in North Carolina. Medicaid also covers costs for home-based services for many needy senior adults. Loss of this funding would increase hardship on families of many older individuals.
These cuts are will put a greater strain on our healthcare system, and may discourage people from seeking treatment until their conditions become much worse, and more expensive.
In general, these cuts are likely to lead to decreases in availability and quality of services as well as higher costs for everyone. All of this so that substantial tax cuts can be awarded to the wealthiest Americans.
Outrageous!
I doubt that that many of my neighbors in Stanly County are fans of New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but in her rebuttal to President Trump’s recent speech, she pointed out that he did not once mention Medicaid. “And MAGA,” she said, “Trump is coming for your Medicaid. MAGA: Republicans are coming for your Medicaid.”
Our congressional representatives need to hear from all of us, and particularly need to hear stories of those who will be directly impacted by these cuts.
Now is the time to flood their offices with those calls and letters.
Anne Lipe
Richfield