The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the Big Brutal Bill this week and—like its House counterpart—it’s devastating for nutrition and health care programs for vulnerable communities.
The Senate proposal includes the largest cut to SNAP in history, as part of a budget package that guts basic needs programs.
The bill also contains the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, and will result in 16 million people losing their health insurance. A recent analysis of the House-passed bill found that because of the cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and reduced staffing requirements at nursing homes, 51,000 people will die each year.
Additionally, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as many as 330 rural hospitals nationwide could close or reduce services as a result of this bill. And, new research shows that cuts to Medicaid along with SNAP will reduce jobs by 1.2 million nationwide, equivalent to about a 0.8% increase in the unemployment rate.
Cutting the heart out of basic needs programs including SNAP and Medicaid doesn’t save states or the federal government money—it denies care and creates bigger problems down the road, shifting the burden to service providers, local governments, and taxpayers. This will lead to higher costs and more strain on budgets—household and state budgets alike. And it will cost lives.
It’s not too late to change course. Now more than ever, it’s critical that the Senate act to protect health care, nutrition, and other essential services that help millions of families meet their basic needs. We should strengthen support for these programs—not take them away
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The not everyone back to school edition. It’s September, and our children really should be back at school. But millions are missing – described as chronically absent. Why? Part of the explanation may be academic disengagement during the pandemic. Another part is the nation’s youth mental health crisis – the two causes are probably related, although the youth mental health crisis existed before the pandemic began.
When expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments ended in December 2021, many families had a harder time paying bills and putting food on the table, and their levels of financial stress increased. That’s one of many findings of a recently released survey of more than 1,000 households that received in the benefits in the continental U.S., and another 500 households in Puerto Rico.
A key provision to reduce prices for seniors came closer to reality Tuesday as the Biden Administration announced the first ten prescription drugs that will be subject to price negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and Medicare. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare now has the power to directly negotiate drug prices with manufacturers for the first time in the federal program’s nearly 60-year history.
Sixty years after the historic March on Washington, which featured Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, civil rights, faith, and labor activists will return this weekend for another march. Among those speaking at the event will be Rev. King’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III; his spouse, Arndrea Waters King; and Rev. Al Sharpton, President and Founder of the National Action Network.
Pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to prevent Medicare from negotiating prescription drug prices, a key element of the Inflation Reduction Act that Congress passed and President Biden signed into law just over a year ago. By September 1, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is expected to announce the first ten drugs that will be subject to price negotiations. But since June, at least seven lawsuits have been announced in six different federal courts.
From the White House to the West Coast, advocates on Wednesday celebrated the one-year anniversary of passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The (literally) groundbreaking legislation made historic investments in clean energy, lowered health care costs for millions of Americans, and advanced tax fairness by raising taxes on wealthy corporations while giving the IRS the resources it needs to pursue tax cheats.
Advocates for tax fairness this week delivered a petition – signed by more than 65,000 people – to the IRS in support of a free IRS Direct File option. Along with the petition delivery, advocates, many of whom make up the Coalition for Free and Fair Filing, held a briefing to push for the need for Direct File and to commemorate this week’s one year anniversary of passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – which included needed resources for the IRS, offset by making the wealthy and corporations pay more of their fair share in taxes.
Next Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, an ambitious legislative package that will boost clean energy, lower prescription drug costs, and increase tax fairness by giving the IRS more resources to pursue wealthy tax cheats. Already, millions of Americans with diabetes on Medicare are saving money on insulin, which, in most cases, was capped at $35 beginning this year. And by September 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will announce the selection of 10 prescription drugs whose prices will be negotiated between the federal government and pharmaceutical companies.
When I was born into poverty, the deck was stacked against me in all aspects of life — from educational opportunities and health care to the future earnings I could expect. Now I’ve graduated from college and I’m poised to start my first post-college job. What made the difference? Hard work, yes — but also public investment. Public programs helped keep me fed, healthy, and learning as I grew up. Kids growing up today deserve the same chance.
On June 1, after a 10-hour trek from Chicago, I reached the nation’s capital, where I would spend the most of my summer as an Intern for the Coalition on Human Needs. I drove down Massachusetts Ave., through Embassy Row, as I entered D.C. proper. I was enamored of the various embassies and how each house indicates that country’s culture: the Mexican embassy has a clay hacienda-style exterior, the South African embassy features a staggering statue of the anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, and the impressive Brazilian embassy boasts a mix of modernity with a traditional look.
Hard-liners in Congress are attempting to pass a bill that would make staggering cuts to WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. WIC gives expecting and new parents, babies, and children essential access to fresh fruits and vegetables, staple foods, breastfeeding support, formula, and health screenings. The Republicans’ proposal would slash the fruit and vegetable cash value benefit by 56% for kids and 70% for adults. I know firsthand how devastating these cuts would be to millions of families.
During the height of the pandemic in 2021, I worked as a summer intern in a Georgia senator’s office. As with any other intern, my main responsibility was answering calls from constituents regarding matters ranging from Social Security benefits to passports. Though not a day went by when I did not receive a call from a constituent asking about the Child Tax Credit (CTC) – the expansion of it being unknown to me at the time. As the days went on, more and more constituents would call and ask how to get it, when they should receive their money, if they were eligible for it, and so on. As the questions continued to roll in, I began to notice how many people were in need of this financial support from the government.