As federal GOP lawmakers look to fund President Donald Trump's major tax, immigration and energy agendas, Congress is eyeing a major Medicaid cut that would slash more than $700 billion dollars from the program over ten years.
GOP lawmakers have consistently said the bill is aimed at rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse” to save money. But Democrats warn that, according to a preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the cuts could cause 8.6 million people nationwide to lose their healthcare plans over the next decade.
Around two dozen protestors with the grassroots group Four Rivers Indivisible spoke out against the proposal in western Kentucky on Tuesday, rallying outside of Republican Congressman James Comer's office in downtown Paducah. Together, they chanted and held signs with messages in support of Medicaid, the federal health care program for poor, elderly and disabled Americans.
Leslie McColgin, one of the group's leaders, was leading the charge with her bullhorn.
The western Kentucky organizer called the proposed cuts “shameful” and said reduced Medicaid funding could jeopardize hospitals in rural regions and other healthcare providers.
“A lot of people are describing this area as something of a medical desert, and anything that hurts medical payments is going to make that worse,” she said. “Those people are still going to get sick. They’re still going to need care and they’re just going to go to the emergency room and pay it that way, although the emergency room might not be there because this is going to hurt our rural hospitals and providers particularly.”
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