2 days ago
Advocates: Medicaid ‘not a luxury,' lawmakers need plan for fallout
GAINES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — After the U.S. House approved the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' which includes Medicaid reforms, advocates in West Michigan are sharing their concerns.
'Medicaid is not a luxury, it's a lifeline,' Vanessa Greene, CEO of the Grand Rapids African American Health Institute, said at a Thursday afternoon press conference. 'It is the difference between stability and crisis for over 75 million Americans, including working families, children people with disabilities, our veterans and people living with chronic conditions.'
The press conference held at the Disability Advocates of Kent County included nonprofits, health care providers and residents who opposed the proposed changes to Medicaid. They include cuts to Medicaid to target waste and fraud, Republican lawmakers say, as well as enhanced work requirements.
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'We often say that health is wealth, and health is wealth because when you're healthy, you can thrive. You can work, you can go to school and you can take care of your family members,' Megan Erskine, CEO of Catherine's Health Center, said.
Erskine said 60% of Catherine's Health Center patients are on Medicaid. They receive dental services, medical services and mental health services at the center.
'Thirty percent of people on Medicaid in Kent County are your friends, your neighbors and your family members. They are not fraud, abuse and waste,' she said.
Scott Becker, who has osteogenesis imperfecta, a brittle bone disease, says Medicaid helps to pay for his medication and keeps him independent, and these changes could one day leave him homeless.
'If it weren't for Medicaid, I don't know where I would be living. Medication has just skyrocketed pricewise, and most of the medications that I take are $300, $400 (or) $1,000 for one prescription. That's just insane to me that other countries pay a tenth of what we do here in the states,' he said.
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'No one should be denied care because they are too sick, too poor or too different to matter,' Greene said.
Jennie Knight has worked in health care most of her life, and she is a mom of a Medicaid recipient. She says that the system is broken and needs to be fixed.
'(Lawmakers should) talk to the people who actually have the expertise in how it could be fixed and managed to be better. We're always looking at cost, we're always looking at efficiencies, but this is not it. When you cut stuff like this so drastically without having plans in place for the fallout of it, it's disastrous,' she said.
The Medicaid reforms are part of a bill that would also eliminate taxes on tips and overtime work, bring cuts to the SNAP program and raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. The House approved the package in a 215-214 early Thursday morning vote. It is now off to the Senate.
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