Protecting Medicaid
As part of the current federal fiscal year 2025-26 budget discussions, $880 billion in funding reductions to Medicaid have been proposed over ten years. Though there are many different ways these cuts could be implemented, and the specifics are as yet unknown, reductions of this magnitude relative to the overall size of Medicaid cannot be recovered by eliminating fraud and abuse, and would be certain to have a tremendous impact on the North Country. Possible impacts are alarming, and they include:
Tens of thousands of North Country residents could lose coverage, resulting in these neighbors delaying care, being sicker when they do seek care, using emergency rooms more frequently, being hospitalized more frequently, and amassing debts related to medical bills. This would increase the cost of emergency and hospital care for all of us, not just those who lose their Medicaid coverage.
Hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics could have fewer staff, offer fewer services, and accumulate more unpaid debt. This would affect all patients, regardless of whether they are on Medicaid.
Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and other offices and healthcare businesses that are already operating on the margins would be forced to close. These closures could result in thousands of jobs lost and hundreds of millions of dollars of associated spending no longer occurring in the North Country.
Patients who are not positioned to do so, including pregnant women, could have to travel much longer distances to get care.
Decreased availability and quality of healthcare would make the North Country less attractive to people considering moving here, including businesses and primary and second home buyers. Home values and tax revenues would likely drop, and tax rates would rise.
Recovering from any of the above impacts would take far more time than it will take to enact the reductions and cost far more than any budgetary savings that cuts would initially produce. In many cases, these healthcare services could be gone forever.
What Can We Do?
The Healthcare Coalition for the North Country aims to inform North Country residents and elected officials of the importance of Medicaid and the potentially dangerous impact of irresponsible cuts. Together, we can advocate for sensible and carefully considered public policy so those who seek to cut Medicaid do not inadvertently gut Medicaid.