Donald Trump’s megabill will bring forth a number of changes and one of its most concerning aspects is that it would slash Medicaid along with other things. Medicaid remains extremely important for people who cannot afford expensive treatment that they or their family members need as it helps them to pay the bills and keep the treatment going.
However, Trump’s megabill might end up badly affecting people who are dependent on Medicaid. In a recent interview on CNN with Rep. Marlin Stutzman, anchor Boris Sanchez cited a recent interview that reporter Jeff Zeleny did with a mom who explained how this Medicaid slash would affect her daughter.
The mother talked about her 9 year old daughter, and playing the clip, Sanchez said, “She has cerebral palsy. She says that the only thing keeping her daughter alive is Medicaid. I want you to listen to what she shared with CNN.”
The mother could be heard saying in the clip, “I’m worried that the red tape is going to affect our Medicaid because of just the oversight burdens, and that as a result, I’m going to lose my daughter.” Sanchez further added, the mother also asked, “Who’s going to protect us when they can’t get paperwork done in time and we lose coverage?”
Stutzman was then asked for a response who said that he only signed the bill to protect Medicaid. He said, “No, I empathize with her. And I tell you what, that’s what Republicans are doing, is protecting Medicaid for people like her and for single moms, pregnant moms, you know, people that have found themselves in dire straits. You know, the Department of Justice just announced earlier this week a health care scam to the tune of about $14 billion, 300 people indicted.”
He further claimed that these cuts are necessary because there are people who have been taking advantage of Medicaid and that needs to be stopped. He said, “These programs can be healthy again if we keep them for those people who they’re specifically for.” He specified that people who are illegally in America or who have perfectly fine bodies should not be using Medicaid.
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Sanchez also asked Stutzman how these slashes will affect the rural hospitals, to which Stutzman said, “Yeah, I don’t believe it will at all. In fact, you know, one of the things that we do know is like states — like California, they take about $160 billion a year in reimbursements through Medicaid. That number alone is larger than the entire state budget of Florida.”
He further emphasized that Medicaid and Medicare is for all the people of America and not only for the ones living in New York or California and those who are taking advantage of the facilities illegally.
