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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGovernors eye Medicaid cuts to ease COVID-19 budget pain
Governors facing huge budget shortfalls are eyeing cuts to Medicaid, even as millions of unemployed Americans flock to the health insurance program after losing their employer-based coverage. States that are buckling under declining revenues and increased Medicaid enrollment due to COVID-19 say they may have no choice but to cut the program for the poor unless they get more financial support from the federal government.
These are cuts that can be triggered and eliminated with the stroke of a pen," California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Thursday about cuts to Medicaid and other programs that will go in effect July 1 without help from Congress and President Trump.
Federal law requires states to balance their budgets, and during economic downturns, governors and state legislatures tend to cut costly programs like Medicaid. States as a whole could face budget shortfalls of $500 billion, according to one analysis by a University of Pennsylvania professor, meaning cuts could be particularly steep this time around.
Medicaid consumes about 20 percent of state budgets, with spending on the program spiking during recessions as more Americans sign up after losing their jobs.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/medicaid/498097-governors-eye-medicaid-cuts-to-ease-covid-19-budget-pain
Brainfodder
(6,423 posts)Thank you!
DUH!
lark
(23,083 posts)They govern by the rich for the rich and fuck every single other person alive, they arenn't going to change. All we will see is even more fuckery because hurting and killing working class/poor people is all they got.
blueinredohio
(6,797 posts)I'm sure he'll be one of the first to sign on.
Bayard
(22,048 posts)Funny thing, when the federal government does not, and that's the only thing saving us right now.