WASHINGTON — After months of backlash from constituents around the nation and a rollercoaster week of procedural challenges, U.S. House Republicans managed to force through Trump’s reconciliation package today following its passage Monday in the U.S. Senate by a one vote margin. The legislation includes the largest cuts in history to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and is one of the greatest transfers of wealth from the poor to the rich, offsetting more than $1 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest households at the expense of hard-working Americans.

The reconciliation bill will lead to more than $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will cause more than 17 million people to lose their health coverage, with low-income households bearing the brunt of these cuts. These reckless cuts endanger the already delicate health and economic security of communities across the South, who have disproportionately fewer opportunities for insurance than expansion states, increased barriers to care across more rural populations, and many disparities related to poorer health outcomes.

In response to the House vote, Southerners for Medicaid Expansion has released the following statement:

“It has been disheartening to see so many Southern House and Senate Republicans support a bill that will take away critical health care from hardworking constituents while also cutting money that keeps the lights on for our hospitals, senior centers and health care facilities across communities. Instead of building on the collective, bipartisan progress we have made over these 15 years to close the remaining coverage gaps in our communities, the cuts members have barreled through Congress are slated to add tens of millions of uninsured people to that pool.

“This bill undermines the work done by Alabamians, Floridians, Georgians, Kansans, Mississippians, North Carolinians, South Carolinians, Tennesseans and Texans from varied backgrounds, hometowns, and political persuasions to build bridges and advance meaningful policy to address the plight of the working poor and middle-class Americans in the 10 holdout states, who are all too often caught in the coverage gap without care options.

“While this legislation presents a major setback, this process has revealed how disconnected our policymakers are from the actual needs of constituents. As elected officials’ allegiances have been made transparent, this political moment has only served to strengthen our resolve to fight to protect and expand health care access for all. Our coalition will be working tirelessly over the coming months to educate our families, neighbors, and local and state officials on how to mitigate the harms embedded in this Big, Ugly, Bill for our communities, economies and state budgets, and we will be preparing them to react accordingly. It is time now to restore hope to those who do not see their needs being honored by the members they put in office, and to work together to strengthen communities of care for the many more Americans who will now find themselves caught in the Medicaid coverage gap across the nation.”

Southerners for Medicaid Expansion is a coalition of community leaders, grassroots organizations, and nonprofit policy think tanks from across eight holdout states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas – that have united together in response to our shared history of healthcare inequities and devotion to building a future where all Southerners have access to quality, affordable healthcare. Below are quotes from some of our storytellers regarding some of the implications of the House reconciliation bill’s cuts:

Dr. Sunil Sahai, a physician practicing on the Texas Gulf Coast, said, “If we cut Medicaid even further in Texas, people will die. People will die prematurely and from preventable illnesses and easily treatable diseases. It is far cheaper to treat hypertension and get it under control than deal with the stroke that occurs because of high blood pressure. If we can get people the care they need at the time they need, we can avoid the big scary stuff.”

“Medicaid provides for people - and I am one of those people that uses it for both my health care and long-term services and support,” said Maria Sutter, a Florida resident living with disabilities. “When dollars are cut at a federal level, coverage is cut for expensive treatments, therapies, and daily support. I already have limited resources - when Medicaid is gone, how am I paying for my health care, caregivers, medical supplies, the cost of prescription drugs, and transportation? It’s real money for real people.”

If you would like to speak with storytellers across our southern states about the impact that Medicaid and SNAP cuts will have for their families and communities, please contact Jossie Barroso at jossie@healthyfla.org. More information about Southerners for Medicaid Expansion is available at southerners4medex.org.