Medicaid

Why is Medicaid important for a person with dwarfism?

Many in the dwarfism community rely on Medicaid for essential care, including surgeries, mobility devices, and specialist visits. 

What could happen if Medicaid funding is reduced or eliminated?

Proposed cuts would put these services at risk, impacting the health and independence of people with disabilities nationwide.

What do we know as facts?

  • On February 25, the House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution 14 by the Republican majority on a largely party-line vote. The resolution was endorsed by President Trump.
  • The House resolution lays out the broad parameters of extending the 2017 tax cut provisions and enacting some new cuts, at a cost of $4.5 trillion over 10 years, and reducing government spending by $2 trillion over the same time period.
  • The House resolution assigns each House committee a target for reduction in spending for the programs under its jurisdiction for years 2025-2034.
  • The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare, Medicaid, among other programs, was assigned a reduction target of $881 billion in spending over 2025-2034. The Committee is required under the Concurrent Resolution to propose legislation by March 27 to implement the reductions.
  • President Trump has said that Medicare should not be cut. If Medicare is taken off the table as a possible source of reductions, Medicaid makes up 93% of the remaining non-Medicare spending under the jurisdiction of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
  • If all the reductions mandated for the House Energy and Commerce Committee came from the Medicaid program it would result in an 11% reduction to Federal program spending in 2025-2034.
  • Medicaid is funded jointly by states and the federal government, which provides matching funds of at least 50%. An expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act provides a match of 90% in federal funding. About 21% of the U.S. population, or 83 million people, have Medicaid coverage, including those with low income and disabilities, as well as seniors. Medicaid, not Medicare, covers long-term care expenses for the elderly.
  • Significant reductions in Medicaid spending would impact eligible individuals and families but also the ability of states and communities generally to provide healthcare services for everyone by removing significant health spending that hospitals and care providers depend on for operations.
  • The House Republican leadership has claimed that $50 billion in “waste, fraud, and abuse” could be eliminated annually from Medicaid program using a number identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for “improper payments”.
  • However, the GAO has said that improper payments include overpayments and underpayments or payments that shouldn’t have been made. That can include fraud, “but not all improper payments are the result of fraud,” the report said. It didn’t give an estimate for fraud, saying that “estimates of improper payments cannot be used to determine the extent of fraud in a particular program.” Improper payments can simply be payments missing certain paperwork, for example.
  • The Senate is expected to consider the House-passed Concurrent Resolution 14 as the starting point for developing its own spending framework.
  • Both houses of Congress need to agree on this or another budget framework before lawmakers can then propose legislation on the specific ways they would cut and spend their way to those figures.

What We Do Not Know Yet

  • Whether the Senate will go along with the reduction targets in the House budget resolution or propose alternatives.
  • The specific cuts to Medicaid that the House Energy and Commerce Committee will propose to achieve its $881B outlay reduction target for programs under its jurisdiction for 2025-2034. The committee is required to propose legislation by March 27.

Recommended Action

  • Contact your elected representative and your two Senators to let them know you oppose cuts to the Medicaid program.    

Toolkit for Taking Action

Need help advocating for Medicaid?  Download our Medicaid Toolkit which includes sample social media prompts, graphic, and a template for contacting your representative

 

(updated 3-25-25)