GOP Medicaid Plans Put 15 Million People with Disabilities at Risk of Losing Coverage or Services, New CAP Analysis Finds

WASHINGTON, March 8 -- The Center for American Progress issued the following news release:

Proposals to restructure the Medicaid program, as part of ACA repeal, from President Donald Trump and House Republicans would put 15 million Americans with disabilities--including children and seniors--at risk of losing health coverage and services, a new analysis from the Center for American Progress finds. As CAP's column explains, the House ACA "replacement" plan--which Trump supports--would not only roll back Medicaid expansion but also end the program's guarantee of coverage by instituting a "per capita cap," reducing federal Medicaid funding to states. States would be forced to either make up the difference or, more likely, kick people off their Medicaid programs. Notably, people with disabilities who rely on home- and community-based services through Medicaid--such as personal-attendant care, skilled nursing, and specialized therapies--could lose access to the services they need in order to live independently, remain in their homes, and work.

"On the campaign trail, Donald Trump openly mocked people with disabilities. Now, it's no longer just words. President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress are pushing Medicaid cuts that would jeopardize health care and essential services for 15 million Americans with disabilities," said Rebecca Vallas, Managing Director of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress. "The House Republicans' proposed Medicaid cuts would roll back the clock on disability rights by 50 years or more, to a time when people with disabilities commonly lived in institutions."

The CAP column also explains how Trump's education plan, possible cuts to programs such as legal aid and Protection and Advocacy programs, and cuts to nutrition assistance, housing, and other basic living standards would inflict even greater hardship on Americans with disabilities. All of these plans would remove essential protections for Americans with disabilities or cut resources for programs that help individuals with disabilities secure basic living standards and greater economic security.

Click here (https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/news/2017/03/08/427629/5-ways-president-trumps-agenda-disaster-people-disabilities/) to read "5 Ways President Trump's Agenda is a Disaster for People with Disabilities" by Rebecca Vallas, Katherine Gallagher Robbins, and Jackie Odum.

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