The American Association for People with Disabilities (AAPD) believes that this budget reconciliation bill is bad for the country. A budget reconciliation bill is a bill that tells the government how and where to spend money. The Senate is one of the two parts of Congress, the group of people who pass laws in the US. They voted yes on a reconciliation bill that cuts over $930 billion dollars from Medicaid. Medicaid provides healthcare to millions of Americans. This includes disabled people and older people. Some examples of what Medicaid provides are:
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Healthcare for disabled people inside their home. This is called “Home and Community-Based Services.”
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Support for people who have jobs
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Medical treatments that allow people to live full lives
This bill puts these programs in danger because there would be less money to pay for them. Without these services, many disabled people will not be able to live independently anymore. Many disabled people will die because they can’t get the care they need.
This bill also cuts money from SNAP and changes how it works. SNAP stands for “the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program”. SNAP helps people who don’t always have enough money to afford food. The bill does this by making it harder to get SNAP. You already have to be able to show you’re looking for a job to get SNAP. This bill makes it so you have to show more proof. This bill also shifts the cost for SNAP from the entire country to each state. This means that states with less money won’t be able to provide as much support for people who may need it.
This bill has not become law yet. The next step is that it goes to the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives is the other part of Congress. Some members of the House of Representatives have already said they do not support this bill. They do not like this bill because it is harmful to people with and without disabilities. We want everyone to call or write their member of the House of Representatives and tell them to vote NO. AAPD thinks any bill that harms people with disabilities is bad. The government needs to protect Medicaid.