GOP budget bill sparks healthcare concerns
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)— U.S. House Republicans have sent a budget plan blueprint to passage but many are concerned.
The new budget resolution includes $4.5 trillion in tax breaks as well as $2 trillion in cuts to spending. The resolution narrowly passed the floor yesterday, with 217 votes for and 215 against. President Trump approves of this new bill.
The , tasked with overseeing the budget that includes Medicaid, is asked to find $880 billion in savings. The committee won't have a lot of wiggle room if they are going to make massive cuts.
Critics are afraid that the bill could end up chopping the programs funding by billions over the next 10 years.
This would affect the more than 2 and a half million Michigan residents who rely on Medicaid as of last year, and many of them are dealing with mental illness.
Local mental health advocates fear some people will lose their independence.
'Services called community living supports, which provides staffing to individuals so they can live in their own home or apartment, independently… these proposed cuts could really interfere with the ability of our state to continue to fund those unique services,' said Marianne Huff, President and CEO of Mental Health Association in Michigan.
The Mental Health Association tells 6 News that they are concerned about where people with mental illness will turn if they lose Medicaid coverage, fearing nursing homes aren't fully equipped to deal with certain mental illnesses.
Mental illness care services are not the programs that may see cuts as a result of this new budget plan.
The (MOASH) is worried they might not be able to keep providing their services much longer.
Taryn Gal, Executive Director of MOASH, says they have already felt the impact of federal funding freezes earlier this month. They say potential cuts are making it impossible to plan for the future. Gal says youths may lose access to vital sex education if the proposed budget cuts are approved.
'Youth will not have access to the information we are now able to provide… This includes knowing about their bodies, their rights, how to identify healthy relationships,' said Gal.
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The Tyrant Test
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