Here they come…
As expected, Donald Trump is about to disappoint his supporters. Both Huffington Post and Politico reported that Medicaid is one of the things on Republicans’ list or “menu,” as Politico calls it. They still don’t have a replacement for the ACA, but they plan to “reimagine” it, whatever that means. Trump’s voters should have known he would come after the policies they use to live. Instead, at least to Republicans, it is more important to fund Donald Trump’s policies, especially as those policies relate to tax cuts and border security. Politico secured a copy of the “menu.”
According to the list published by Politico, Republicans plan to do the following: “Repeal Major Biden Health Rules, Strengthen Medicare for Seniors, Making Medicaid Work for the Most Vulnerable, Reimagine the Affordable Care Act, Ending Cradle-to-Grave Dependence, Reversing Biden Climate Policies, “Other,” and Potential Tax Offsets.” These changes will allegedly save $5.7 trillion over 10 years, but at what cost?
All these ideas aren’t bad, but you must read the proverbial fine print. They should not be making any changes to Medicare at all if it relates to benefits. Americans have paid into that fund, basically buying the benefit, and they still pay a premium. At this stage in life, it is difficult to qualify for private insurance without going broke. Seniors should be allowed to enjoy a program for which they paid their entire working lives. Obviously, many of these proposed changes will be challenged by Democrats, especially changes to the ACA, Medicaid, and programs that provide food and services to the needy (TANF, Thrifty Food Plan, and Social Services Block Grant). While Republicans do have the majority, it is a very small majority, and they will need every vote to pass this. The problem (for them) is that there are Republicans who are against many of these cuts, and Politico reported that 18 Republicans-14 of whom just won reelection in November-have warned Johnson against moving too quickly on energy tax credits. These Republicans are concerned about their constituents, who have secured good-paying jobs in manufacturing because of those credits.
This is not just about cutting money, but those cuts will also directly impact people who depend on benefits to survive. They can sugarcoat these changes with all the words they can come up with, but the fact remains that many of these changes will leave millions without healthcare or the ability to care for themselves and their families. Perhaps they should just be homeless, right? Cutting Medicaid funding on the federal level will put the onus on individual states. Furthermore, HuffPost reported that cutting food assistance could impact “tens of millions” of people, and cuts to clean energy will kill a manufacturing boom that, thanks to President Biden, created jobs and money across the nation. While all the proposals won’t cause this type of damage, even those that do could be catastrophic for the country. Republicans need to find something else to cut-like perhaps their salaries. They’re all millionaires anyway. They should want to serve their country free of charge.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years