Groups call for Medicaid expansion as Republicans threaten to cut federal funding

As Senate Republicans have been engaged in private discussions about restructuring Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income individuals, to fund the extension of Trump’s $4.6 trillion tax cuts from 2017, along with other tax initiatives, a 9 state coalition of organizations have banded together to lead health equity movements in southern states that have not expanded Medicaid, and yesterday they met virtually to discuss what’s at stake in Florida.

The Southerners for Medicaid Coalition is a group of hundreds of community leaders, grassroots organizations, non-profit policy think tanks which came together during previous efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Maria Sutter is with Florida voices for health. She said threats to cut Medicaid will impact people in Florida with disabilities who rely on the funding for their medical needs.

“The long-term waiver that I use here funds my in-home caregivers, pays for medications, and provides healthcare supplies. Essentially, it allows me to live in my home rather than in a more expensive institutional setting. To live in my home. My Medicaid waiver pays about $175 a day for my care versus $300 or more for care in a nursing home.”

She said that the cuts to Medicaid will also impact the caregivers who have been helping her.

 “They’ll start leaving the field, and that will leave the disability community with fewer people to help us.”

A recent report by the Commonwealth Fund and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health predicts that Florida may face a loss of nearly 45,000 jobs in 2026, along with a reduction of over $4.5 billion in its gross domestic product. The report highlights that most of these job losses—approximately 33,200—would stem from Medicaid cuts, prompting hospitals and nursing homes to downsize their staff.