Today, the Coalition on Human Needs joined with ten other leading civil rights and health equity organizations to release a report analyzing the Medicaid cuts recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The report, Medicaid Cuts Would Rip Away Health Coverage from Millions of Americans, Disproportionately Harming People of Color, shows that nearly 30 percent of people of color get their health care through Medicaid: 42.3 million people. Nearly 20 million children of color benefit from Medicaid, as do 10 million workers of color without a college degree. People of color are more likely to rely on Medicaid because their incomes are lower and they are less likely to get health insurance through work. The health of these millions of people, among the more than 70 million Americans who rely on Medicaid, is threatened by the record-breaking $880 billion or more in cuts called for in the House-passed budget resolution. 

At the press conference to release the report, CHN’s executive director Deborah Weinstein stated: 

“The Coalition on Human Needs is proud to stand with these great civil rights leaders. Together, we must call out a dangerous lie. Over one trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP nutrition aid are not coming from finding waste or fraud. These record-breaking cuts will hurt people. Members of Congress who vote for such cuts are voting to force sick people to go without health care. The drastic cuts proposed in the House budget hurt those who can least afford it, and when combined with harsh additional cuts in SNAP nutrition aid, strike a vicious and needless blow at the health and well-being of tens of millions of people, many of whom are our children, threatening their future and the nation’s. Half or more of Medicaid enrollees who are children or workers without college degrees are people of color – 30 million people. There are decades of evidence that children who receive SNAP and Medicaid are healthier throughout their lives, with a better chance to work and escape poverty. When they go without health care and go without nutritious food because they do not receive Medicaid or SNAP, their health and life chances suffer. That is the real waste threatened by these recklessly deep cuts. Most appalling: the budget denies this essential help to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.”

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