Republican Budget for Medicare: The House of Representatives, which is currently controlled by Republicans, has just passed a new budget plan that could lead to huge cuts in public programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
These programs help millions of Americans with health care and food. The budget plan doesn’t list exact programs or amounts to be cut, but it tells different committees in Congress to find ways to save more than $1.1 trillion over the next ten years.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which looks after Medicaid and some parts of Medicare, has been asked to cut $880 billion. The Agriculture Committee has been told to reduce spending by $230 billion, and that amount is expected to mostly come from the SNAP program. These large numbers have made health care experts and food advocates very worried.
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Even though the plan doesn’t clearly say that benefits will be cut, experts believe that these huge savings will likely lead to fewer services and help. A new report from the Commonwealth Fund says that if these cuts happen, they could cause over 1 million jobs to disappear by 2026. States could also lose around $113 billion because of less support from the federal government and lower tax collections.
Right now, around 71.8 million people use Medicaid, nearly 42 million depend on SNAP, and another 67 million receive help from Medicare. These programs are very important in local communities, especially in low-income or rural areas. If SNAP faces a $230 billion cut, it would be about 20.6% less money over ten years.
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The Center for American Progress said this could lead to smaller monthly payments or tougher rules to qualify, which means many families could lose the help they need to buy food.
Medicaid may also face changes, like paying less to health providers, reducing benefits, or making people pay more to get care. Medicare isn’t directly mentioned in the new budget, but experts say some changes could still happen because of the big savings the Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to find.
