Dear Health Advocates,

As you may have seen, the House Budget Committee advanced their budget last week, which instructs at least $880 billion in savings, necessitating large Medicaid cuts (see Energy & Commerce, p. 25).

A floor vote is expected next week, though this depends on leadership's confidence that it would succeed on the floor. House members are in-district this week through Monday, February 24; this is a prime opportunity for pressure and continued advocacy!

Our health advocacy community is successfully making clear that Medicaid cuts will have harmful impacts on state budgets and beneficiaries. The in-district window we are in now is critical to keeping that drumbeat alive and raising the alarm for more Representatives. Several moderate Republicans have publicly expressed concerns about gutting safety net programs (examples below). Our efforts this week will help ensure that their concerns remain top of mind and even more House members are public in their opposition to the budget resolution and the Medicaid cuts within it.

"If a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it..." - Rep. Bresnahan (R-PA) on X.

“I think that there are enough of us who are concerned about the arbitrary number that was thrown out there for Medicaid, that the resolution may not pass the floor.” - Rep Malliotakis (R-NY) in The Hill.

“I know a bunch of people are whipping undecided because they want to let leadership know that if these cuts hurt people they aren’t doing them ... I think there’s a lot of people in pretty conservative districts that this has a really negative impact on their districts and their states.”- Rep. Valadao (R-CA) in The Hill.

Consumers First Legislative Agenda
In addition, Consumers First, a national alliance representing families, working people, large and small businesses, and primary care clinicians, released its legislative agenda last week. The agenda highlights opportunities to move to a more sustainable health system that will ensure all Americans have access to high-quality, low-cost care. As deep cuts to the Medicaid program are on the table, these legislative recommendations (broken out into 5 focus areas) outline a number of alternative, pro-consumer reforms that lower costs. View the new legislative agenda here.

You can find more on all of this below, along with this week’s new opportunities and resources:
Action Items
• URGENT! Families USA Email Writing Campaign: Protect and Defend Medicaid
• URGENT! Tell your representative to take action right now by using our letter-writing tool on Families USA Action's Same Service Same Price Website.
• URGENT! Families USA Email Writing Campaign: Urge Congress to Take Action on Advanced Premium Tax Credits!
• TAKE ACTION: Submit your patient story on hospital pricing abuses to [email protected]
• TAKE ACTION: Join Our Health Justice Now Network

New Resources
• NEW! Families USA Video: Ensuring Accountability: A New Era in Medicaid Managed Care Oversight
• NEW! Families USA Policy Agenda: Consumers First Legislative Agenda 2025: Policy Solutions for the 119th Congress to Drive Value into the U.S. Health Care System
• NEW! Families USA Testimony: New York State Site Neutral Payment Bill
• NEW! Upcoming NHeLP Webinar: Work Requirements Don't Work (February 20 at 2pm ET)

FUSA in the News
• NEW! Anthony Wright, Executive Director, is quoted in the following articles as a result of Families USA’s House budget resolution statement:
o The Washington Informer: House GOP Pushes Forward Extreme Budget Plan as Project 2025 Fears Become Reality
o HuffPost: House Republicans Eye Big Cuts To Medicaid And Food Assistance
o Common Dreams: GOP Proposes $4.5 Trillion Tax Giveaway to the Rich While 'Ransacking' Food Stamps and Medicaid
o McKnights Homecare: House budget resolution draft includes massive cuts to Medicaid spending
o Inside Health Policy: House GOP Budget Calls For $880B In E&C Savings, Sparking Fears Of Deep Medicaid Cuts
o Healthcare Dive: GOP calls for $1.5T in cuts, much of which could come from healthcare
o Chief Healthcare Executive: Hospitals condemn prospect of Medicaid cuts as GOP aims to slash spending 
o Inside Medicine: Did Republicans just propose cutting Medicaid by $880 billion? Not yet. (The alternative isn’t great either.)
• NEW! Ben Anderson, Deputy Senior Director of Health Policy, is quoted in Newsweek, California Removes 850,000 People From Health Care Plan, as a result of his interview last year with KFF Health News.

Health Equity
• Families USA Insights: Transforming Care: Addressing Health Inequities and Pitfalls through Innovative Models of Care
• Families USA Analysis: Charting the Course for Community Health Workers: Identifying Challenges and Opportunities to Secure Medicaid Reimbursement for CHWs in State Medicaid Programs

Health Care Value
• Families USA Affordability Agenda: Making Health Care Affordable: Reining In Health Industry Abuses To Lower People’s Costs and Generate Budget Savings
• Families USA Fact Sheet: Stop Big Health Care Corporations from Keeping Workers and Small Businesses Under Water
• Families USA Comments: 30 Organizations Send Letter to Alabama Governor Ivey on Expanding Access to Continuous Glucose Monitors

Health Coverage
• Families USA Policy Agenda: Achieving Transparency, Accountability and Quality in Medicaid Managed Care: A State and Federal Policy Agenda
• Medicaid 101 Fact Sheet and Handout: Medicaid Matters: To People, Our Economy and the Health Care System
• Families USA Press Release: Strong Open Enrollment Numbers Signal the Need to Pass the Health Care Affordability Act
• Families USA Press Release: More Than 300 Organizations Urge New Congress to Protect and Strengthen Medicaid

Thank you for your tireless advocacy as we continue fighting for the best health and health care for all of America's families. To connect on shared advocacy efforts or let us know what you would like featured in upcoming Resource Roundups, please respond to this email or reach out at [email protected]!

Have a great week,

Nate Keller

Partnerships Mobilization Associate

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