One of Washington’s health plan contractors warns that federal plans to slash funding to Medicaid would have a devastating impact on the lives of citizens in the state and elsewhere.
The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers are considering gutting public health programs such as Medicaid to target what they consider wasteful spending.
Community Health Plan of Washington, or CHPW, serves more than 300,000 majority-low-income clients across the state.
CHPW CEO Leanne Berge says cuts would be devastating to the most vulnerable citizens in Washington and would have a ripple effect across the board.
“Clearly the most vulnerable citizens in the state are dependent on Medicaid. We’re talking about people who have disabilities. Who, if they did not have Medicaid, their families would have to stay home and take care of them, if they have families,” Berge said.
“We’re also talking about people who might have behavioral health needs or drug addiction. So Medicaid is just so foundational. If you don’t have the ability to have services for your health, nothing else can happen, right? You can’t work. You can’t take care of your family,” she explained.
CHPW says the state provides only about 10% of funding to Medicaid. The other 90% comes from the federal government.
“What people also don’t realize is that almost everybody is one step away from having that vulnerability. and if we didn’t have health care coverage that was broadly available for everyone with low income, people would end up in emergency rooms and hospitalizations and die. It’s that simple. People would not survive without access to Medicaid,” Berge said.
