Advocates and caregivers in Texas are sounding the alarm about the impact of Medicaid cuts on patients and working families across the state.
Recent coverage from KERA spotlights the “dire consequences” that cuts to the program would have on low-income Texans — including Whitney Premeaux and her son, Dayton, who has a rare genetic disorder. While Dayton has battled many complications and challenges living with this rare condition, Medicaid coverage changed his life.
Highlights are included below on Dayton’s story and the wide-ranging ramifications of Medicaid cuts for Texas residents:
- “Premeaux said things started to get dire in 2018 when Dayton began experiencing violent episodes. ‘He would scream, cry, hit, bite and bang his head into the ground or walls,’ she said. ‘Every night, instead of singing lullabies and reading our favorite bedtime stories, we were praying to survive another day.’”
- “Things started to look up when Dayton was granted a Medicaid waiver. They got access to in-home care attendants, behavior support and respite services, among other things.”
- “But now Premeaux and her family are at risk of losing those services, as Congress debates a spending plan that could severely reduce federal funding for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program — also known as SNAP, or food stamps.”
- “The Joint Economic Committee estimates roughly 1.4 million Texans will lose health insurance because of Medicaid cuts. The state already has the highest number of uninsured residents in the country.”
- “‘There are so many working Texans who don’t make enough money,’ said Lynn Cowles, Director of Health and Food Justice at Every Texan. ‘They can’t afford health insurance, they can’t afford to put full meals on the table, and so we have these public assistance programs to help them get by.’”
- “It’s not just people enrolled in Medicaid who will be affected. Cowles says Medicaid funding helps keep Texas hospitals operating.”
- “‘If Medicaid dollars can’t fund these hospitals, you’re talking about not only the hospital closing but taking all of the jobs and infrastructure with it,’ she said. ‘These funding cuts are going to affect literally everybody in Texas.’”
Congress must say no to the Medicaid cuts proposed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) to protect Texans like Dayton – and hardworking Americans across the country – from losing their Medicaid coverage. For more information on Medicaid’s vital role, visit https://modernmedicaid.org.