Medicaid cuts would impact vulnerable communities such as Latinos

If the cuts to Medicaid proposed by Republicans in Congress are approved, millions of people in the United States could lose their health coverage, mainly low-income people and seniors.

It should be remembered that Medicaid is almost free public health insurance for low-income people.

Republicans are proposing a series of Medicaid spending reductions through policies such as stricter eligibility verification, citizenship checks, stricter screening of reimbursed providers, and cuts in federal Medicaid funding.

Daniela Rodríguez, a UC Berkeley scholar and Radio Bilingüe reporter, files this report.

The proposed Medicaid cuts, introduced by the House of Representatives under Republican leadership in the United States, have generated great concern, especially among health care providers, system advocates and legislators. Dr. Ilan Shapiro, director of medical affairs at AltaMed, warns about the impact these cuts could have on both patients and the medical community.

As a whole, we will have to help the hospitals to be there, but when there are fewer resources, there will be fewer hospitals, fewer community clinics, fewer doctors and nurses to attend to everyone. So, this, if you take it away, increases the amount of disease we have.

Dr. Shapiro points out that Medicaid insurance – federally funded and known in California as Medi-Cal – covers about 15 million people in the state alone. Nationally, nearly 80 million people rely on this program to access essential health services.

It covers children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, people with long-term conditions who need help at home, and others.

The doctor emphasizes that Medicaid is not just health insurance.

It is really a bridge of life because we really know that this insurance is for people who are working, who now have two or three jobs, and that this makes a big difference to be able to prevent diseases. And above all, if there is something going on with their health, to be able to take care of it.

Unlike what many believe, Medicaid is not only for low-income people but also for working people who can’t afford the high costs of health insurance. But these Medicaid cuts will have a ripple effect that will impact everyone, as Dr. Shapiro points out.

Because we all need health. And when we are having this problem and we cut the budget for hospitals, we cut the budget for community clinics. What is going to end up happening? More people in the emergency room. And when I, who do not have Medicaid, have a heart problem or an emergency, logically it is going to be more difficult for me to receive care.

Beyond the impact these cuts may have on vulnerable communities and the healthcare system in general, Dr. Shapiro adds that essential services, such as prenatal care, could also be impacted. He explains that this is especially troubling since approximately 40 percent of pregnant women in the country have Medicaid benefits.

 We know today that the mortality and complication rate in the United States, compared to other countries, is very high, and especially among African Americans and Latinos. So, taking these kinds of things away is going to complicate the mom and it’s also going to complicate the future baby of things that we could have prevented.

In rural areas, where there are often only smaller-scale community clinics, Dr. Ilan Shapiro warns that resources – including medical staff – could become even more scarce, should the cutback plan pass.

But what they are trying to do is take away $880 billion in order to balance the country’s budget, but at the expense of, really, the backs of our working people, the people who have disabilities of our children, and pregnant women.

Both Democratic governors and legislators have expressed concern about the impact these cuts could have on vulnerable communities and state budgets. The cuts plan is being debated in Congress, and is expected to move to a vote and negotiations in the coming weeks. It will all depend on how discussions move forward between the House, Senate and White House.

Let our legislators really hear that this is not a blue issue, not a red issue: it is a human issue.

Dr. Shapiro stresses that this is the time to raise your voice and contact legislators who have jurisdiction in your area, but also to be informed about Medicaid.

Because there are 80,000,000 people. That means that one out of every five people in the United States has some kind of contact with Medicaid.

So, if we raise our voice, the Importance and the reassurance that it gives us, and now yes, the positive stories that it has done for us, is going to be key to every single thing that we do.

Finally, Dr. Shapiro invites you to visit myvotemyhealth.org and from there, write a message directly to your legislator to tell him or her why Medicaid is important to you and your family.

Many thanks to Daniela Rodriguez, UC Berkeley intern and Radio Bilingüe reporter.

We will continue to follow the future of this bill that if it moves forward will affect millions of people.