By Arthur Jones, Nebraska Public Media News.
Citizens met at Omaha’s Tri-Faith Center Monday to express their concerns about the “big, beautiful bill’s” cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and access to federal loans for medical students.
The townhall was a joint effort by Nebraska Appleseed and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. The reconciliation bill, now passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, aims to cut around $880 billion. This is being done to cover the cost of around $5.4 trillion in tax breaks. Those in favor of the bill say it would root out waste, fraud and abuse, and not affect most of those on Medicaid or Medicare.
Sarah Maresh, the Healthcare Access Program Director at Nebraska Appleseed, said up to 55,000 Nebraskans are estimated to lose health coverage, and the state will lose up to $4 billion from the federal government.
“65,000 Nebraskans actually rely on Medicaid expansion, and we approved it as voters in 2018 in our state,” Maresh said.
Mindee Swanson, a nurse practitioner and the Associate Medical Director for the school based health centers for One World Community Health Centers, said the bill’s requirement to recertify twice a year will cause trouble for those on Medicaid.
“The recertification process is tedious and often very confusing for families and even the professionals that help people get these done,” Swanson said. “More children are going to have delayed care with this. Not only, will there be increased administrative burden, where I’m assuming things are going to get backed up.”
Dr. Ann Anderson Berry, a neonatologist, said that these cuts will greatly harm those in Nebraska’s rural communities.
“This is not just a health care issue, it’s a workforce issue, an education issue, an economic issue,” Berry said. “Communities without access to safe childbirth, cannot attract or retain young families. They struggle to grow and they suffer generational consequences. Nebraska simply deserves better. Our rural families deserve better. Cutting Medicaid may save money on a spreadsheet, but it will cost lives in real communities and put the expensive burden of care back on our communities.”
Executive Director for National Disability Action Edison McDonald spoke about his concerns that the bill will hurt business’s ability to hire those who rely on both Medicaid and disability. According to the bill, those on Medicaid will be required to work at least 80 hours a month. McDonald said that this will cause issues, because disability can be dependent on how much one earns. If that same person is required to work a certain amount of hours, the pay they receive may conflict with the maximum amount of money they are allowed to make while on disability.
“Ultimately, this bill is going to hurt [business’s] opportunities to employ, particularly people with disabilities,” McDonald said. “It’s going to make it harder for those self advocates. It’s going to make it harder for families, and it’s going to make it harder for employers, and it’s going to make it harder for us as a state.”
Marshall Biven, a medical student at Creighton’s Medical School, spoke about something that is bundled alongside the cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, that being a cut to the amount a medical student can receive in federal student loans. He said that the cuts to federal medical student loans included in the bill will hurt future potential doctors.
“There is a cap of $150,000 on loans and I will be $400,000 in debt by the time that I graduate,” Biven said. “I think it’s very important that we recognize that this bill is not only an attack on health care, but it’s an attack on foundational medical education.”
All three of Nebraska’s representatives to the house voted yes on moving the bill along to the Senate back in May. The Senate is looking to pass the bill by July 4.
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