Contact Your U.S. House Representative This Week:
Urge your representative to be a champion for Medicaid. Give them this message:
“Medicaid is the lifeline for people with disabilities. Protect Medicaid from proposals that would block grant the program and reduce its funding."
Contact Your U.S. Senators This Week:
Thank Sen. Al Franken and Sen. Amy Klobuchar for their previous votes to protect Medicaid, and thank Sen. Franken for his recent commitment to be a champion for Medicaid. Urge them to protect Medicaid from cuts being proposed in the U.S. House that would block grant Medicaid and cut Medicaid funding by as much as 20%.
Meet with your U.S. Senators and Representatives during their congressional recess:
Set up in-person meetings with them, and attend any town hall forums they sponsor. To reach your U.S. Representative:
1) call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask for your representative, or
2) go to www.gis.leg.mn/OpenLayers/districts
To reach Sen. Franken: 202-224-5641 (D.C. office) or go to his website to call the regional office nearest you.
To reach Sen. Klobuchar: 202-224-3244 (D.C. office) or go to her website to call the regional office nearest you.
Background:
We must act quickly to protect Medicaid. We expect that in July, Congress will consider a deficit reduction and spending cut package – a proposal that could have devastating consequences for people with disabilities and their families.
There are many proposals being discussed in Washington to balance the budget. What they all have in common is that Medicaid spending would be dramatically cut in a short period of time. These proposals would:
- Block Grant Medicaid. This would give states a fixed amount of money for health care and long term services and would likely remove requirements (such as eligibility and service minimums and quality measures) for how the states spend the money.
- Place Spending Caps on Domestic Programs, with automatic enforcement. This would set a limit on federal spending that is well below current funding levels and would likely result in a Medicaid block grant. Automatic enforcement mechanisms mean that, if a spending target is not met, cuts are made automatically, without the need for further Congressional action.
Proposals like these would harm people with disabilities and their families in many ways. For example:
- There would be no more guarantees of health care services; waiting lists would grow even longer.
- The block grant would likely have few rules, and states would be free to make harmful changes, like reducing eligibility and cutting services.
- Block grants could force bad choices by the states and cause real conflict as groups with diverse needs compete for scarce dollars. Bad choices could include: Loss of home and community‐based services (HCBS) and supports, changing eligibility requirements that would result in fewer people served, more out-of-pocket costs for individuals and families, reduction or elimination of critical services, less availability of doctors and providers for care.
Now is the time to take action and mobilize all of your members, constituents, and allies. Our voices must be heard in these debates. Starting Saturday, June 25th until July 5th, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are on recess. All U.S. Senators will be home beginning July 2nd and returning to Washington on July 10th. We urge you to contact your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators in a variety of ways during these breaks, including calling their offices, setting up in person meetings, attending town hall meetings, and writing letters to the editor. Contact Mike Gude at The Arc Minnesota at mikeg@arcmn.org or 1-800-582-5256, x 113 if you would like support in writing a letter to the editor.
Also, please let Steve Larson know about your contacts with your senators and representatives so he can track those responses. Contact Steve at stevel@arcmn.org or 1-800-582-5256, x 115.
Your advocacy in these upcoming days and weeks will help protect the federal lifeline for people with disabilities and their families. Thanks in advance for your work!
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