Democratic leaders speak out against Medicaid cuts, Republican chair responds

Daniel Hernandez, Democratic candidate for Arizona's 7th Congressional District, and Karen Watts, a member of the Yuma City Council, held a press conference on July 1 to condemn President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" for how it will affect medical insurance coverage in rural Arizona communities.

In the meantime, the Yuma County Republican Committee called the claims that Americans will be kicked off Medicaid "fear mongering."

Vice President J.D. Vance supplied the deciding vote on Tuesday to push the president's tax cut bill through the U.S. Senate, sending it back to the House for final approval.

If the majority of the Republican-controlled House passes this bill, it will cement Trump's 2017 tax reductions, cut taxes on tips and overtime and expand immigration enforcement efforts, but it will also add $3.3 trillion to the nation's debt over the next decade and slash health insurance programs like Medicaid, prompting Democrats to speak out in disapproval.

"If Republicans truly cared about being fiscally responsible, they wouldn't be funding this on the backs of poor kids not having food or access to health care," Hernandez said. "They would be focusing on lowering the deficit and making sure we're protecting jobs and protecting health care for people throughout the country."

Hernandez was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at 17 years old when his family did not have health insurance, and he said he might have died if not for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance program.

"I'm running for Congress because we need to make sure that we stand up and protect access to health care," he said. "Not because it's the right thing to do, but because I personally know what it's like to not have health care."

Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System is the state's Medicaid program that provides health insurance to eligible residents, and it's the largest insurer for Yuma County.

"Yuma County and rural Arizona depend heavily on the Medicaid program," Hernandez said. "The people that are going to be hurt the most are those that have the least options."

In addition to serving on the council, Watts is a family nurse practitioner, and she shared that an estimated 370,000 people across the state are at risk of losing their insurance with the new bill.

At least half of Watts' patients are on AHCCCS, and the insurance revenue cuts that Trump is proposing will lead to the loss of health clinics, specialists and other care centers, according to Watts.

"People don't realize that in nursing homes, about 60% depend on AHCCCS to be able to stay in those nursing homes," Watts said. "When you lose those residents, it's going to cost even more money for everybody else who stays there. So whether you have AHCCCS or not, it's going to affect everybody in the health field."

Both Watts and Hernandez also criticized how Trump's bill plans to determine people's eligibility for Medicaid insurance.

If people who are making just a couple dollars over the minimum lose their insurance, then Hernandez said this bill incentivizes people to stay out of work and stay poor.

Watts dismissed the perception that AHCCCS is for people that don't work, claiming that she has patients on AHCCCS that are still working multiple jobs because they can't find a job with sustainable insurance benefits.

"Instead of cutting people, the eligibility should be changed, and we should be adding more people. It's a shame that we're going to lose this much insurance for our community," she added.

When patients lose access to primary care, their medical costs become more expensive. Hernandez stressed that regular appointments with a primary care physician who might prescribe a pill to fight diabetes symptoms is far less expensive in the long run than showing up to a hospital in a diabetic coma and having to pay tens of thousands for treatment.

Watts said this is going to lead to a significant rise in medical debt.

"You're going to see sicker patients, and these patients are going to show up in the ER, and Onvida is going to have to absorb these costs," Watts said.

"Rural hospitals are already hurting in so many communities throughout this country… and losing Medicaid dollars will make it that much harder for these places to stay open," Hernandez said.

Hernandez emphasized investing more into medical opportunities in rural Arizona communities. Creating more jobs for doctors, nurses and other practitioners in rural areas expands access to necessary resources.

"Just having insurance isn't enough if you can't go to a specialist or you have to drive two or three hours to go see someone," he said.

With the bill now transitioning back to the House for final approval, Hernandez and Watts called on the public to contact their Republican representatives and add their voices to help save necessary medical services in rural Arizona communities.

REPUBLICAN CHAIR RESPONDS

Bill Regenhardt, chairman of the Yuma County Republican Committee, described the Democrat press conference as a "scare tactic" and insisted that Trump has said on multiple occasions "there will be NO cuts to Medicaid."

"The Big Beautiful Bill, protects and strengthens Medicaid for those who rely on it – pregnant women, children, seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families – while eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. This bill removes illegal aliens, enforces work requirements, and protects Medicaid for the truly vulnerable," Regenhardt told the Yuma Sun in an email.

"Medicare has NOT been touched in this bill – absolutely nothing in the bill reduces spending on Medicare benefits, and does not make a single cut to welfare programs. In fact, it safeguards and protects these benefits for all ELIGIBLE Americans."

Regenhardt called the claim that the bill will close rural hospitals false. "Rural hospitals comprise just 7% of all hospital spending on Medicaid, illustrating that they have not benefited from the massive increase in waste, fraud and abuse under the Biden administration. Under this bill, rural hospitals will benefit from the expansion of rural hospital protection, providing targeted funds for rural care, and giving states flexibility to support local providers," he said.

"In addition to eliminating waste, fraud and abuse from Medicare and Medicaid, this bill has big wins for the American people. The bill extends the tax relief from the 2017 tax cuts, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, increased deductions for seniors and social security recipients, and includes a work requirement for able-bodied Medicaid enrollees as is required in other welfare programs," he noted.

"While this bill is by no means perfect, it does provide the American people an opportunity to save hundreds of millions of their tax dollars by cutting waste, fraud and abuse. This will help save these programs for those most vulnerable and in need. While the Democrats want to continue to advocate for the fraudsters who are bilking the American people out of millions, this administration and the Republican party are focused on a common sense approach to protecting Medicare and Medicaid for future generations," he added.