Nutrition, Hospital Funding in Jeopardy as State Faces "Big, Beautiful" Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP
When I took the job with Asheville Watchdog last week, I promised to let you know when it posted major stories relevant to Transylvania. No other news organization in the state has this story about potentially devastating cuts to Medicaid and food-stamp funding as a result of the recently passed federal budget. It was impressively turned around in 24 hours after investigative reporter Andrew Jones received the document. Please read and, if you think this kind of reporting is valuable, donate. Thank you!
Over the past few weeks, the media and political operatives have distorted and falsely fearmongered the changes we made to preserve and strengthen Medicaid.
H.R. 1 does not cut Medicaid - it reinforces it to restore its original intent: to serve children, individuals with disabilities, low-income seniors, and other vulnerable populations. The bill addresses much of the waste, fraud, and abuse that has caused costs to balloon out of control by 60% over the past five years. The changes address two main topics: reimbursement to hospitals and populations that should not be covered.
First, let’s address the issue of rural hospitals since WNC depends on rural providers. States have been gaming the Medicaid system by allowing medical providers to artificially inflate their reimbursement by imposing an unwarranted special cost they like to call a “provider tax.” Opponents like to argue that this will cause rural hospitals to close. At the same time, many of our rural hospitals are indeed struggling because a disproportionate share of their patients receive Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. Rural hospitals only receive about 7% of this money laundering scheme. The balance goes to larger hospitals with more favorable payer mixes.
H.R. 1 creates a $50 billion fund to help support our rural hospitals. More importantly, it provides for an eight-year phase-in period to allow Congress to monitor the actual effect of the changes and work with rural hospitals to adjust as necessary.
Now, let’s look at the covered Medicaid population. Political rhetoric would have you believe that millions of people would have their health care “stripped away.” That's just not true. This bill does nothing to affect the qualification of anyone receiving Medicaid unless they can work and choose not to, are in the country illegally, or obtained Medicaid through fraudulent means. It does nothing to change anyone’s qualification based on their income or health condition.
Instead of cutting Medicaid, this bill adds $200 billion to improve services to those who need and deserve them, and it seeks to add fiscal responsibility that has been ignored for years and puts the programs at risk. This solution provides a tailored approach rather than increasing general Medicaid spending and will improve and protect the care of those who need it most.
Thank you for sharing this information. I wish I could wave a magic wand and change this atrocity from happening.