Health Care Group Says Senate Bill Would Hit Area Medicaid Population Hard
The biggest cost savings the Senate health care legislation promises would come from Medicaid cuts, according to the Congressional Budget Office. (Jeff Bossert/WILL)
A local group that advocates for greater access to health care says the Congressional Budget Office’s review of U-S Senate health care legislation shows it would hit particularly hard in Champaign-Urbana.
Chris Garcia of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers says the 26 percent cut in Medicaid expenses projected by Monday’s CBO score would affect roughly 60 to 70 percent of the people he works with.
“That’s a lot of the population that we see day to day -- bartenders, servers, a lot of these part-time employees making under 139 percent of the federal poverty level,” Garcia said.
Garcia says anyone who wants Medicaid cut should remember that the program is a safety net for anyone, including people who work but lack savings to deal with a health crisis.
The CBO found that, in all, the Repoublican-backed legislation would leave 22 million fewer Americans with health insurance by 2026 than under the Affordable Care Act. The bill would replace the ACA. The House has passed similar legislation.