It’s wrong to hurt people who are struggling to help people who are already doing well. But Congress will begin voting soon on budget and tax legislation that would do exactly that.
Congressional leaders are seeking to renew the 2017 federal tax cut law, which provided tax breaks that overwhelmingly benefited wealthy households and highly profitable corporations. To offset the cost of these tax giveaways, Congress would have to slash funding in other areas. And many of those proposed service cuts would make life worse for Alabamians who struggle to make ends meet.
The damage could be severe for hundreds of thousands of people across our state. As many as 1 in 5 Alabamians enrolled in Medicaid could lose their health coverage due to cuts and onerous work reporting requirements. Many more people could see their food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reduced or eliminated.
These shortsighted cuts would increase human suffering and cause economic harm across Alabama. The time to speak out against these proposals is now.
Use the petition on this page to add your name to Arise's sign-on letter opposing cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
Alabama Arise will continue to advocate in the coming weeks and months against harmful service cuts for working people and tax giveaways to wealthy households. Thank you for your support of our work to build an economy that works for everyone in our state.
Dear Senators Tuberville and Britt and Representatives Aderholt, Rogers, Sewell, Palmer, Moore, Strong and Figures,
We write to request respectfully that, in your deliberations about federal budget and tax policy, you ensure that Congress protects the health and nutrition safety net that keeps so many Alabama children fed and healthy and that helps so many Alabama families make ends meet.
As you know, federal Medicaid funds 72% of the cost of Alabama Medicaid. At a current level of $6.8 billion, Medicaid is the largest source of federal funds in our state's budget. Medicaid provides health coverage and protection from medical bankruptcy for 1 in 5 Alabamians. Medicaid funding also supports the ALL Kids program, making Alabama a leader among our neighbors with the highest rate of children’s health insurance in the Deep South.
It is impossible to overstate the extent to which federal Medicaid funding is integral to the strength and effectiveness of the health care infrastructure that benefits all Alabamians. Medicaid provides:
- Pediatric care for half of all Alabama children, including the majority of children with intensive health care needs.
- Perinatal care for half of Alabama pregnant mothers and their babies.
- Long-term services and supports for 3 in 4 nursing home residents, and for most children and adults who receive nursing care at home.
- The leading source of health insurance in rural communities, and an essential source of funding for hard-pressed rural hospitals and clinics.
- Direct grants to hospitals to sustain costly services, such as neonatal intensive care units, which serve their entire communities.
In short, any cuts to federal Medicaid funding, restrictive policies aimed at encouraging disenrollment just to reduce costs, or caps that limit the ability of federal funding to keep pace with inflation would directly impact more than 1 million Alabama children and families. Such cuts would damage our communities, devastate our state budget and weaken Alabama's economy.
Similarly, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the most effective anti-hunger program in the United States. And in a time of persistently higher food prices, it is more important than ever. Every dollar of federal SNAP funding not only affords families the necessary nutrition, but it also helps stimulate local economies.
More than 2 in 3 SNAP households are families with children. SNAP provides vital help for working families, as well as for older Alabamians and people with disabilities. Cuts in federal SNAP funding would directly harm the 1 in 7 Alabamians – more than 750,000 people – who participate in the program and would have broader negative effects on communities across our state.
For all of these reasons, we respectfully urge you to protect federal funding for Medicaid and SNAP, two vital programs that make life better across Alabama. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these matters, please do not hesitate to contact us. We thank you for your public service.
Respectfully submitted,
Alabama Arise, its supporters and member organizations