ISMA has joined medical associations from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in asking congressional leaders to protect Medicaid from $880 billion in spending cut targets contained in the House budget resolution.

“For decades, Medicaid has been the safety net for our most vulnerable patients – children, pregnant women, seniors, the disabled, veterans and low-income working families,” the Feb. 27 letter said. “If these cuts are enacted, millions of our Medicaid patients will lose their coverage, and we expect all Medicaid patients to lose some of their existing benefits and access to essential health care services. Once our patients lose coverage, their health conditions will worsen and the financial burden will shift to the states, physicians, emergency rooms, hospitals, and all other patients.”

“Our states have enacted innovations and efficiencies in our state Medicaid programs that have reduced costs and improved health outcomes,” the letter continued. “Yet these proposed cuts will jeopardize those advancements, our patients’ health and the viability of the health care system.”

The letter went on to detail how the proposed cuts would disproportionately harm at-risk and rural communities and negatively affect the entire health care system. It also expressed concerns about three specific proposals to cut Medicaid.

Read the letters to leaders of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.