Medicaid On The Chopping Block
Connecticut leaders and healthcare advocates gathered at Charter Oak Health Center to denounce proposed Medicaid cuts they say will devastate the state’s most vulnerable residents.
The federal plan to slash up to $880 billion from Medicaid over the next decade coincides with efforts to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, a move critics argue would benefit the wealthy while forcing deep reductions in healthcare funding.
“We’re here to talk about Medicaid, Husky Health,” said Andrea Barton Reeves, commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Social Services. “Fifty percent of our patients are covered by Medicaid.”
She warned that while the details remain unclear, “one thing” is certain: “real consequences for our families, our seniors, and people with disabilities.”
The proposed reductions could cut federal matching funds as low as 25% or even eliminate them entirely.
“That means less care for patients and more costs for the state,” she said.
Connecticut receives $6.6 billion in federal Medicaid funding annually, and replacing those funds, state officials warned, would be impossible.
“That’s $6.6 billion that we do not have lying around here and can’t get to meet the needs of these people,” Comptroller Sean Scanlon said.
Gov. Ned Lamont explained that Connecticut could lose $180 million per year under the proposed plan.
“Are they going to block Medicaid, which means any inflation increase that’s paid for by us?” he asked. “Are they going to cut away the subsidies from Covered Connecticut? That would mean those folks … instead of having, maybe, $50 a month, it would be $2,000 a month. Are they going to cut back on expanded Medicaid and all the support that gives for people who otherwise won’t be able to get by? We don’t know. And that unpredictability is hell on people.”
Long-term care facilities would also be affected.
Matt Barrett, president of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, noted that 73% of nursing home residents in the state rely on Medicaid.
“Fifteen nursing homes have already closed since 2021,” Barrett said, adding that occupancy is at 87% and rising. “Any cuts to Medicaid would be a grim reality for our seniors in Connecticut.”
As Congress considers making $2 trillion in tax cuts permanent, Connecticut’s federal delegation criticized Republican leadership for targeting Medicaid. US Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, said, “Donald Trump and Elon Musk will not miss a moment’s sleep.” He argued the cuts were not about fiscal responsibility but about securing “the tax cut of 2017, which was two trillion dollars, 70% of which went to the nation’s wealthiest one percent.”
US Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, pointed to the Congressional Budget Office’s findings as evidence of what’s coming.
“There is no way that you can hit a one-trillion-dollar savings … without gutting Medicaid,” Courtney said.
He also criticized Republican leaders for misleading their members about the impact of the legislation.
“One of the ways they were able to convince their members that it was okay to vote for this was by saying, ‘Medicaid’s not even in the bill.'”
He explained that while Medicaid may not be explicitly named, the numbers reveal that its funding is at stake.
“Technically, that may be true, but the fact of the matter is that the numbers don’t lie,” Courtney said.
Larson stressed the need for Republicans to reconsider.
“In the House, we need three. Three Republicans who will stand up for the people they represent,” Larson said.
Connecticut officials say they are working to analyze funding alternatives but acknowledge that the state cannot cover the shortfall on its own.
“We cannot possibly replace what we have been getting from the federal government,” Scanlon said.
Meanwhile, Lamont urged residents to act.
“If you care about your children’s healthcare, your parents’ nursing home care, your neighbor who has a disability, then now is the time to call your representatives,” he said. “We stopped them from repealing the Affordable Care Act before. We can do this again.”