Message from SASI
Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget resolution that directs the House Energy & Commerce Committee to cut at least $880 billion in spending over current levels in the next decade. Medicaid cuts were not specifically mentioned, but they are implied.
Keep in mind that last night’s vote was just the first step in a long budget reconciliation process. The House needs to build an actual budget based on the framework that passed last night. Next, the House and Senate have to reconcile the differences between their respective budget resolutions.
Majority members are keenly aware that the 2017 effort to repeal the ACA and block-grant Medicaid led to a midterm drubbing — they know that deep Medicaid cuts would be deeply unpopular and politically toxic. There remains a lot of concern within the Senate majority about Medicaid cuts. Moderate House majority members are also worried, and are expressing those concerns publicly. The president and House leaders have given assurances that any Medicaid cuts will focus on reducing waste and fraud, and will not affect individual Medicaid beneficiaries. How much savings can be yielded from anti-fraud efforts is unclear.
The bottom line: Don’t panic, but don’t rest. There is no guarantee of deep cuts to Medicaid that might affect our field, but we’re also not out of the woods.
DDAWNY is closely collaborating with other provider associations across the state on this issue. We expect to have updates and action items for DDAWNY members next week once we see how things are taking shape. Please keep an eye out for updates from DDAWNY, and be sure to engage your agency communities in any advocacy efforts that we advance in the coming weeks and possibly months. At this point, it is a marathon, not a sprint.
We’ve made it through 10 years of neglect from New York State, and a pandemic, by supporting each other and raising our voices together. We’ll get through this challenging time, too.
Jeff Paterson
President & CEO
(716) 805-1555