Proposed Medicaid cuts would undermine financial well-being, increase preventable mortality
Medicaid cuts proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives' Budget Committee could lead to between 651 and 12,626 medically preventable deaths annually and increase the number of uninsured Americans by between 600,000 and 3.9 million, researchers calculated.
A new study estimated how legislation being considered by Congress would affect health outcomes among Americans.
Researchers identified six potential Medicaid cuts proposed by the House of Representatives' Budget Committee: reduction of the Medicaid matching floor, reduced funding of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion, Medicaid per capita caps, Medicaid work requirements, reduced Medicaid provider taxes, and repeal of a Biden-era Medicaid eligibility rule. Results were published June 17 by Annals of Internal Medicine.
These Medicaid cuts would lead to an annual increase of between 651 and 12,626 medically preventable deaths, would increase the number of uninsured by between 600,000 and 3.9 million, and increase the annual number of people forgoing needed medical care by 129,060 to 838,890, the authors calculated. They also noted that 1.9 million people could lose their personal doctor, 1.3 million might forgo medications, and 380,270 women might not access a mammogram.
The researchers noted other potential unintended effects of cutting Medicaid that they did not calculate, such as possible increases in evictions, more uncompensated care at hospitals and safety-net clinics, financial stress for clinicians and facilities from reimbursement reductions, and states raising taxes, redirecting funds from other programs, or limiting Medicaid benefits.
“Since its Civil Rights era enactment, Medicaid has played an increasing role in financing care,” the authors wrote. “Originally restricted to specific categories of low-income Americans—such as families with dependent children, disabled persons, and blind persons—a series of expansions culminating in the ACA boosted enrollment to more than 90 million. Today, despite its many shortcomings, Medicaid enjoys wide support from the electorate and serves as the foundation of the nation's health care safety net. The cuts under consideration, intended to offset the cost of tax cuts that would predominantly benefit wealthier Americans, would strip care from millions and likely lead to thousands of medically preventable deaths.”