Murray Joined By Advocates to Highlight Devastating Trumpcare Medicaid Cuts and Impacts on Military Families and Children With Disabilities

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking Democratic member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following news release:

Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, hosted a press conference with Katy Neas of Easter Seals, Will Fischer of Vote Vets, and Kathryn Cook, a mother of a child with disabilities in the military to highlight the devastating impacts gutting Medicaid in Trumpcare would have on military families with children with disabilities. Republican Senators are working behind closed doors to jam through a version of Trumpcare that end Medicaid as we know it, putting military families with children who have disabilities at risk of not being able to get care they need should they be transferred.

"By gutting Medicaid in their secret bill, Senate Republicans are putting military children with disabilities at risk of losing coverage they rely on depending on where their families are transferred," said Senator Murray. "They are trying to jam through a devastating bill that even President Trump calls "mean" to deliver massive tax break to special interests in the health industry and hand President Trump a hollow political win. Putting military families at risk of losing a child's coverage, especially on top of the sacrifices they're already making, is just not mean, it's appalling."

Kathryn Cook is a 20-year active duty service member and caregiver for her 17-year-old son with Cerebral Palsy and her aging in-laws. She relies on Medicaid to help with medical expenses, but because the Republican Trumpcare plan cuts billions of dollars from Medicaid, states must make hard choices about who and what to cover. Because of her job in the military, Kathryn moves every few years, meaning Medicaid coverage is in jeopardy every time she is re-stationed.

"I consider it an honor and a blessing to have my in-laws and my son with me," said Kathryn Cook. "My children and grandchildren benefit from their interactions on a daily basis. It has also given me a new perspective on life and what is truly important. These are dynamic, loving, and contributing individuals. We owe them the best that we have and are - for as long as we have them. This is what makes us human."

"With nearly 100 years of experience, Easterseals knows that Medicaid services have proven to be life-changing and cost effective for children with disabilities in preparing them for school and lifelong well-being," said Katy Neas, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at Easter Seals. "We urge the Senate to maintain and improve, not diminish, the essential health services and protections currently available to people with disabilities through though the Medicaid program. We urge the Senate to remember its history in disability policy and to not cut Medicaid and make the lives of these families more difficult."

"If one supports Trumpcare, if one supports this gutting of Medicaid, they are leveling a broad side attack on veterans and military families," said Will Fischer, Iraq war veteran and Director of Government Relations at Vote Vets. "So what I want to make clear to all the Senators, is that as the largest progressive veterans organization in the country, it will become our main mission to let people know where Senators were on Medicaid and Trumpcare. If you vote to punish veterans, but ripping away our ability to have access the health care, then you're not going to be able to go to church, to a community event, or anywhere in your state without your constituents knowing and being to point at you and say, 'Hey, look. There's the Senator who thought it was a good idea to punish veterans by taking away their health insurance.'"