Forty-Four Republican House Members Urge No Budget Cuts for Medicaid

House Republicans’ Position Is Similar to the 52-48 Vote in the Senate Against Reduced Federal Medicaid Funding to the States

Yesterday in the late afternoon, 44 House Republican members sent a letter to Rep. Jim Nussle (Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget) with copies to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Majority Leader Tom Delay urging him "to remove the reductions and reconciliation instructions targeted at Medicaid, and instead include a reserve fund for the creation of a bipartisan Medicaid Commission." The House Budget Resolution envisions a Medicaid cutback of $15-20 billion over the next five years, while an amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution, sponsored by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and adopted by a 52-48 vote, eliminated all Medicaid cuts. The following is the statement of Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, about this development:

"The House Republican letter urging no federal Medicaid cutbacks is a critically important development in the budget deliberations now taking place on Capitol Hill. It demonstrates the program's strong bipartisan support, and it reflects the serious damage that would occur if federal Medicaid funding to the states were reduced.

"States are already warning that they can't sustain their existing Medicaid commitments, and a federal reduction in funding would exacerbate that problem. It would inevitably result in large state cutbacks for seniors and children who need Medicaid as their health safety net.

"We commend Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and her 43 colleagues for this strong statement of opposition to the House Budget Resolution's proposed Medicaid cuts."

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Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

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