The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the Big Brutal Bill this week and—like its House counterpart—it’s devastating for nutrition and health care programs for vulnerable communities.
The Senate proposal includes the largest cut to SNAP in history, as part of a budget package that guts basic needs programs.
The bill also contains the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, and will result in 16 million people losing their health insurance. A recent analysis of the House-passed bill found that because of the cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and reduced staffing requirements at nursing homes, 51,000 people will die each year.
Additionally, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as many as 330 rural hospitals nationwide could close or reduce services as a result of this bill. And, new research shows that cuts to Medicaid along with SNAP will reduce jobs by 1.2 million nationwide, equivalent to about a 0.8% increase in the unemployment rate.
Cutting the heart out of basic needs programs including SNAP and Medicaid doesn’t save states or the federal government money—it denies care and creates bigger problems down the road, shifting the burden to service providers, local governments, and taxpayers. This will lead to higher costs and more strain on budgets—household and state budgets alike. And it will cost lives.
It’s not too late to change course. Now more than ever, it’s critical that the Senate act to protect health care, nutrition, and other essential services that help millions of families meet their basic needs. We should strengthen support for these programs—not take them away
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For the Puerto Rican coastal community of Loiza, the hits just keep coming. First there was Hurricane Irma, which sideswiped the eastern part of the island, where Loiza is located, late at night on Sept. 4, 2017. Not even two weeks later, Hurricane Maria came ashore, scoring an even more direct hit than Irma, and once again, Loiza absorbed the worst of the storm’s fury. Now the community faces a new threat as residents face cuts to their Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
President Trump’s budget for FY 2020 is consistent with his presidency so far. It is all about denying help to those who lack power or wealth and lavishing advantage to those who have both.
Waldemiro Velez Soto of San Juan, Puerto Rico didn’t know his family’s food rations were being cut. Velez Soto and his family survive off of their NAP benefits. (NAP is Puerto Rico’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.) With few jobs available in Puerto Rico, Velez Soto cannot earn enough for him and his family to survive. And based on our conversation, he is not the only Puerto Rican forced to live like this.
A second federal judge blocked the Trump Administration from including a question about citizenship status on the decennial Census, saying, “The inclusion of the citizenship question on the 2020 Census threatens the very foundation of our democratic system.”
A new crisis is sweeping across Puerto Rico. Unlike Hurricanes Maria and Irma, however, this one is entirely man-made. More than one out of every three Puerto Ricans receives benefits from the island’s Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP), the island’s version of SNAP (once known as food stamps). Earlier this month, however, recipients began receiving sharp cuts in benefits because Congress has failed to extend assistance that was first approved as part of post-hurricane recovery.
Upcoming Webinar: The Trump Budget — What You Need to Know Thursday, March 14th 2 P.M. EDT, 1 P.M. CDT, 12 P.M. MDT, 11 A.M. PDT Register Here Even if you can’t attend, you should register to get access to the webinar recording with captions, slides, and follow-up information. Each…
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on early FY20 budget talks, the potential loss of food aid for millions, a blow to low-income consumers, ongoing immigration battles, and more.
Could the U.S. cut child poverty in half over the next ten years? Yes – and on Thursday, Feb. 28, a panel of experts explained how. The experts, convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at the request of Congress, spent two years studying child poverty in the U.S. and identifying evidence-based programs and policies to reduce the number of children in poverty.
In a letter signed by CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein and sent to every member of the U.S. House, CHN this week urged Congress to vote in favor of a resolution to terminate the President’s national emergency declaration regarding the border. This is CHN’s letter.
Today, February 18th, is the last day a millionaire has to pay Social Security taxes this year, while the vast majority of Americans will continue to be taxed for the entirety of the year.
Congress approved funding for the remaining quarter of government services, finally enabling housing, nutrition, transportation, Census, justice, environmental and other programs to plan and provide needed services through the end of September.
There are emergencies of his Administration’s making: families unable to seek asylum, far too many immigrants detained, children languishing in harmful detention sites. But there is no emergency that justifies more miles of wall.