Trump’s “big and beautiful” bill to cut the budget is now in the House of Representatives where the majority of Republicans are ready to cut $880 billion that includes massive cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. This is their answer to cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks that do not include the middle class and certainly do not help the poor. It helps the rich just like the proposals that Trump keeps coming up with. Again, I will remind you, Project 2025.
The Energy and Commerce Committee was directed to find those $880 billion in savings, and they have put Medicaid on the chopping block. Medicaid provides health insurance to over 71 million low-income Americans, thousands of whom are in Alabama. This will also bar the use of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIPS) in Alabama, which provides low-cost healthcare coverage to children under 18 years of age whose families earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid. It will reduce the cost sharing for Medicaid Expansion patients who make more than the Federal poverty level of $32,150 for a family of four. This bill will also bar people from using Medicaid unless their citizenship, nationality, or immigration status has been verified. An estimated 7.7 million people would be without health insurance by 2034.
The Republicans plan to pass this bill using a process called “reconciliation” that will allow them to bypass the filibuster in the Senate that does not require Democratic support.
If this bill passes, it will be devastating to rural hospitals and other care providers who rely heavily on Medicaid funding. We have already seen the closings of many hospitals in rural Alabama because Gov Ivey turned down the Medicare expansion, and they have not been able to recover. Hospitals in small rural areas are especially at risk of closing, and this affects all the people who live in these areas, regardless of healthcare coverage. If you are 50 miles from the nearest hospital and have an accident or heart attack, you could be dead by the time you get to a hospital. Having insurance will only keep you alive if you are in the care of a healthcare facility where you can get the help you need. Even rich folks need a hospital from time to time.
House of Representatives, Gary Palmer represents District 6 in Alabama. He serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which is pushing this bill. District 6 includes the areas outside of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Autauga, Bill, Chilton, Coosa, Elmore, and Shelby Counties. Palmer has not been a friend to Medicaid in the past. He has voted against disapproval of Trump’s harmful action toward Medicaid, and the Social Security Fairness Act, among other bills that are not in favor of helping the less privileged in Alabama.
Robert Aderholt, the Representative for District 4, has a voting history of voting NO on bills that will benefit the lower income population, including a bill to protect Medicare.
We can depend on Tommy Tuberville to support anything trump. He wants to be the governor of Alabama and doesn’t even live in Alabama! He has a voting history where he voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act and even voted NO on birth control. But….we have Democratic candidates who can take his job. Democrats Dakarai Larriett, Kyle Sweetser, and Mark Wheeler will be running for the nomination for Tuberville’s seat.
Alabama is a poor state. We struggle to have any benefits that will help those who need Medicaid and Medicare for life-saving medicines and healthcare. The only way to help ourselves is to vote against people like Gary Palmer, Robert Aderholt, Tommy Tuberville, and all the Republicans who are voting against the people they represent. Watch the next few weeks on how the representatives in your District vote on this bill. It will tell you who is on your side.
Lynda Kirkpatrick