Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved proposals which would extensively cut Medicaid. If enacted, these changes to the Medicaid program would be extremely harmful to patients, providers, and safety-net institutions alike. At least 10.3 million patients would lose coverage, according to further analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. As The Commonwealth Fund notes, planned cuts to Medicaid (as well as SNAP) would lead to the reduction of $8.8 billion in state and local tax revenues, as well as the loss of 1.03 million jobs nationwide.
These proposed cuts would also significantly harm community health centers and other safety-net institutions’ ability to sustain the workforce necessary to care for underserved communities. Community health centers depend on Medicaid as their largest single source of revenue. Reductions in this vital funding stream will inevitably lead to reductions in services for patients and hamper health centers’ ability to sustain or expand their existing workforce, putting even further pressure on professionals already under strain.
“The net result of these Medicaid cuts will be that an already overburdened and endemically stressed staff will have to do still more with even less,” said Amanda Pears Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU). “And the effects are likely to spiral: health center grant funds have been flat since 2016, and the current proposal would put added demand on health centers to provide more uncompensated care. They will struggle to remain solvent, and this will equate to less funds to hire or retain the staff to provide vitally needed care. That will mean lay-offs, site closures, and less access to care in rural and urban communities alike.”
For the workforce we represent and the communities we serve, the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved urges the House of Representatives to reject this extremely harmful legislation.
About ACU
The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) is a uniquely transdisciplinary membership organization striving to establish a robust, multifaceted workforce to help transform communities to increase access to quality health care for all. Founded in 1996 by participants in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), ACU is the foremost advocate for the NHSC and leads advocacy, clinical, operational, and other areas of excellence and supports the healthcare workforce caring for America’s under-resourced populations. To learn more about ACU, visit www.clinicians.org.
