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Doctors Will Accept Fewer Children with Medicaid
The proposed bill would make it harder for states to adequately pay pediatricians who treat children on Medicaid, which means fewer doctors are likely to accept Medicaid, especially specialists like psychiatrists, cardiologist, neurologists, and others already in short supply. This amounts to longer wait times and less access to care.
When Parents Lose Coverage, Children Suffer
The bill would make it harder for parents to keep their own Medicaid coverage by adding cumbersome red tape and work requirements. Even if these rules don’t directly target children, they hurt them anyway. When parents lose coverage or delay their own healthcare, their kids are more likely to miss out on needed doctor visits and preventative care too.
States Could Cut Benefits for Children with Special Needs
The proposed cuts would take away a key source of funding for Medicaid, meaning states would have smaller budgets to work with, forcing them to reduce or eliminate critical services that would impact kids with disabilities and complex medical needs. Funding for services like home health care, school nurses, or specialized therapies could be slashed.
Children from Immigrant Families Could Lose Coverage
Some states have stepped up to provide Medicaid for children regardless of immigration status, but this bill would punish these states by cutting federal funding, pressuring them to drop coverage for undocumented children.
Hospitals Will Be Left Holding the Bag
Currently, Medicaid can pay hospitals for care a child received before paperwork was processed, but the new bill shortens that window so hospitals will be forced to absorb more unpaid bills.
So what can we do?
Medicaid is more than a line item in the federal budget; it’s a promise to protect and care for our country’s children. These cuts may look like bureaucratic, technical tweaks, but they will have very real consequences for children, families, communities, and the health of our nation.
It’s time to use our OUTSIDE voices.
Children and Families Could Lose Access to Nutrition in a Snap
It’s no secret that healthy food fuels bellies and brains alike. Congress is about to vote to drastically cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Pediatricians know better than anyone that if children don’t have access to healthy food, their health and development will suffer.
While the Senate parliamentarian’s recent decision to remove cuts from SNAP out of budget recalculation, the ruling doesn’t eliminate all proposed cuts and other provisions in the bill that could impact how families access program benefits.
Tell Congress to Protect SNAP
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