|
With millions more Americans now jobless or experiencing sharp income losses due to the COVID-19 economic crisis, the need for Medicaid coverage is growing.
Meanwhile, a major state budget crisis has already driven some states to cut Medicaid and other health programs.
With states beginning to exhaust their options to avoid budget cuts, more states will likely make harmful Medicaid cuts unless federal policymakers provide additional Medicaid funds for them and maintain strong protections for Medicaid enrollees.
Some 5 million Medicaid enrollees who work in essential or front-line industries would be among those who stand to lose if states cut Medicaid or if beneficiary protections are weakened, our analysis of Census data shows.
The stakes are high for Medicaid as the President and Congress negotiate another economic relief bill. Unfortunately, the Senate Republican proposal doesn't include additional increases in the federal share of Medicaid costs, which states need to avoid harmful cuts. And Republicans may seek to weaken important maintenance of effort protections that prevent states from cutting Medicaid eligibility or taking away people's coverage during the public health crisis.
A final relief bill that weakens these or doesn't provide additional Medicaid funding could hurt millions of essential and front-line workers who are sacrificing to help the nation through the pandemic.
|
