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Medicaid

Medicaid funding is crucial to AFT members and the communities we serve. Access to healthcare is key for seeking and maintaining a job, but Congress is moving to cut Medicaid funding by hundreds of billions of dollars. 13.7 million people could lose their Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage under the plan being pushed through Congress.

This plan includes reporting requirements that would likely strip coverage from hundreds of thousands of children, cost up to 449,000 jobs, and lead to more than 15,400 avoidable deaths each year. See how your state could be impacted.

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Cuts to Medicaid will impact schools and hospitals and public services.


Schools

State Medicaid programs—and federal contributions to Medicaid, which cover at least half of spending—have been instrumental in ensuring consistent financing. Since 1988, Medicaid dollars in schools have supported:

  • Salaries for health professionals, such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists and school nurses;
  • High-quality physical and mental health services such as targeted case management, health education, cognitive behavioral therapy, catheterization, audiology and physical therapy;
  • Medical transportation for select students with individual education programs;
  • Equipment, including wheelchairs, lifts and therapeutic bicycles; and
  • Program administration, which can include helping eligible families enroll and even translations for diverse populations.

  • Click here (and scroll down) to see the percentage of students supported by Medicaid/CHIP in your school district


Hospitals

Hospitals rely on Medicaid payments to stay open and adequately staffed. Funding cuts to hospitals are likely to lead to staffing cuts, putting patients in unnecessary danger, closing essential services, and devastating communities. We break down how this will happen in our analysis here.

Medicaid spent $262.6 billion on hospital care in 2022. Hospital spending accounted for 33 percent of total Medicaid spending and Medicaid payments to hospitals accounted for 19 percent of all payments to hospitals in 2022.  

Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital funding helps to keep safety-net hospitals open. AFT members are currently fighting to keep SUNY Downstate open.

Click here to see how many people use Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program in your Congressional district: https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2024/12/04/medicaid-chip-coverage-by-congressional-district-2023/
 
 

Public Employees and Higher Education

Medicaid provides more than half of federal funding to states. If we don't take action to protect this program, states will have to make cuts - law enforcement, higher education, and other public services could be slashed. To make matters worse, we estimate that for every dollar cut to Medicaid, there is $1.70 in lost economic activity, which will further reduce state revenue.


 

Retirees

AARP states that "Medicaid is the nation’s largest payer for long-term care (LTC), which include hands-on assistance with basic tasks such as feeding, bathing, and dressing. Medicaid LTC enrollees are often older adults with serious and often complex care needs, including Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Having Medicaid can be the reason an older adult can get out of bed, get dressed, and go about their day. Medicaid program dollars have been shown to provide stability in the health care system, particularly in lowering rates of rural hospital closures. Medicaid’s direct support for health care and LTC access and reliable reimbursement rates for hospitals and providers also indirectly support surrounding local economies supporting employment and financial stability. More than 2.7 million Medicaid-enrolled adults ages 50 and older live in rural areas."

The cuts proposed by the House of Representatives may impact you even if you plan to enroll in Medicare:

  • Medicaid covers premiums for 1 in 6 Medicare enrollees.
  • Medicaid covers Medicare’s co-insurance, co-pays, and deductibles, for 8 million Medicare enrollees.
  • While Medicare covers short-term skilled nursing facility stays following a hospitalization, Medicaid covers the majority of long-term stays.
  • Medicaid also covers critical services that Medicare does not, such as transportation to medical appointments, medical equipment like mobilized wheelchairs, dental, vision, and hearing benefits, and some treatment options for substance use disorder.

Take a look at how people in your state could be hurt by Medicaid cuts.



Don’t believe the lies about Medicaid being a handout.


This is a fight we can win. Regardless of politics, people support Medicaid.

Polling Chart: Majorities Across Partisanship, Race and Ethnicity, Vote Choice, and Income View Medicare and Medicaid Favorably
Polling Chart: Majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans Hold Positive Views of Medicaid

 

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