Children’s Hospitals to Senate: Reject AHCA for Failing Kids
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its revised score of the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA) and projected a startling $834 billion cut for Medicaid. More than 30 million children across the country rely on Medicaid, and this cut would put their health at risk. The current AHCA does not protect coverage, benefits and access to care for children, and children’s hospitals urge senators to reject the bill as passed by the House.
While CBO did not specifically analyze how this cut would affect children, recent analyses by Avalere and the American Action Forum estimated that the House-passed AHCA, if enacted, would cut Medicaid for kids by more than $40 billion by 2026. While these studies to date have focused exclusively on non-disabled children, the high costs associated with disabled children in Medicaid would likely make the total impact of the AHCA on kids significantly greater.
These various analyses all underline the same point — this bill is bad for kids. On behalf of our nation’s children’s hospitals and the patients and families they serve, Children’s Hospital Association asks the Senate to safeguard Medicaid for children and reject the House-passed bill. Today’s children represent tomorrow’s future, and we must invest in their health now.