Troy and I join other Down syndrome advocates across the nation to #SaveMedicaid in this mini-documentary by respected documentarian, Daniel Sheire.
The Senate just released its version of the American Health Care Act, and it’s worse than I thought it would be.
Here’s what the National Down Syndrome Congress has to say about the new version of the bill:
“It makes even deeper cuts to Medicaid than the House version. (See http://thehill.com/…/338978-whats-in-the-senate-healthcare-…) Both House and Senate versions restructure Medicaid to a per capita cap model and eliminate the individual mandate. However, they are tied to different inflation indicators starting in 2025. The House bill is tied to the medical inflationary index (since costs in the health care sector increase faster than broader measures of inflation), whereas the Senate bill will be tied to the regular Consumer Price Index. States would eventually receive even less federal funding (starting in 2025) than under the House bill, leaving states in a worse position to pick up the slack. States will immediately start to cut home & community-based Medicaid services in anticipation of the funding slow down from the federal government.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is reaffirming his intention to have a vote on the bill prior to the July 4th break. WE NEED YOU TO CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY AND EVERY SINGLE DAY TO URGE THEM TO VOTE NO ON THIS BILL THAT WILL SET THE DOWN SYNDROME COMMUNITY BACK 50 YEARS BY JEOPARDIZING THE CRITICAL SUPPORTS UPON WHICH WE DEPEND TO LEARN, WORK AND LIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY. Call the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Grassroots advocacy is our best chance of defeating this bill. Please share this impactful video created by advocates from the Down syndrome community discussing how devastating caps and cuts to Medicaid will be. Include the hashtags #SaveMedicaid and #NoCutsNoCaps and make your voice heard loud and clear!”
