McConnell, KY has too much to lose if Medicaid is cut. We won't 'get over it.'

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3 days ago

No, Sen. McConnell, people who need health care aren't going to 'get over it.'
The stakes are far too high for such a dismissive response about proposed cuts to Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office estimates these changes could leave nearly 11 million Americans uninsured by 2034. These aren't abstract budget decisions. This legislation will have dire consequences for families, communities, and the providers that serve them.
Kentucky has more hospitals at risk of closure than any other state, according to the Sheps Center for Health Service Research at the University of North Carolina. With proposed Medicaid reductions threatening up to $1.3 billion in lost federal funding, as many as 35 hospitals could close, many of them in regions that are already underserved. That kind of loss isn't just a health-care crisis; it's an economic one. According to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, these cuts could result in 12,100 fewer jobs and $98 million less in state tax revenue, with ripple effects on education, infrastructure and public safety.
Medicaid expansion has been one of the most impactful health policy decisions in our state's history, with Kentucky's uninsured rate falling from 14.5% in 2013 to 5.6% in 2023. This coverage has meant improved access to cancer treatment, preventive care, lifesaving medications, and mental health and addiction recovery services. It's helped stabilize rural hospitals, improve health outcomes, decrease racial disparities in coverage, and reduce medical debt.
Now, all of that is at risk. And for what?
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Medicaid cuts in Kentucky will hit kids, elderly and people with disabilities
Proponents claim these cuts target waste, fraud and abuse. However, the legislation does nothing to rein in drug prices, stop corporate price gouging or address the administrative inefficiencies that drive up costs. Instead, it strips care away from people with the least resources while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and the largest corporations.
Medicaid is vital in Kentucky. It covers roughly a third of the state's population, including:
68% of nursing home residents
46% of Kentucky children
51% of working-age adult Kentuckians living with disabilities
Medicaid also plays a critical role in our fight against addiction. Kentucky has one of the highest drug overdose death rates in the country, and Medicaid is the largest payer of substance use disorder treatment. Cutting Medicaid would mean fewer detox beds, less access to counseling and longer waits for recovery services at a time when families can't afford to wait.
Beyond Medicaid, other provisions in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' threaten to destabilize the ACA Marketplace, where 24 million Americans, many of them self-employed or small business owners, purchase coverage. Failing to extend enhanced subsidies could cause an additional 4 million Americans to become uninsured, leading to higher premiums and reduced benefits for those who remain.
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Cutting Medicaid services for Planned Parenthood, other providers is alarming
As an OBGYN who spent her clinical career promoting gynecologic health, I am dismayed by the bill's intent to prohibit Medicaid funding for nonprofit essential community providers, such as Planned Parenthood clinics, for 10 years. I am further alarmed by the Supreme Court's ruling that will allow states to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood. This money pays for contraception and screening services, such as pap smears, for primarily low-income patients. It almost never funds abortion; it simply helps those who do not desire or cannot afford to have children avoid unplanned pregnancies, keeps people from getting cancer, and helps people to be healthy so that they can be productive members of society.
Bills such as this 'save' money by denying care. Going without medication, heart surgery or cancer treatment costs payers less. Is that the answer? I say NO. Health care is not a luxury. It is a human right. Legislation that makes health care more expensive or difficult to access is morally and ethically wrong. It says that those in power determine who gets care and who doesn't, who lives and who dies.
Kentuckians don't need to 'get over it.' We need to demand a system that protects every one of us, before more hospitals close and more lives are lost.
Agree or disagree? Submit a letter to the editor.
Susan G. Bornstein, MD, MPH, is an OBGYN by training. She became so frustrated with the challenges that many of her patients faced with cost and access to care that she returned to school for a master's degree in public health. In 2021, she founded The Asclepius Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Learn more at AsclepiusInitiative.org.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: McConnell's Medicaid dismissal will save money, not Kentucky | Opinion
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