CNBC
The cuts of federal health expenditure proposed by Republicans in their fiscal bill One Big Beautiful Bill Act They can increase the medical debts of some families by up to $ 22,800, according to a new Third Way report, a group of experts Based in Washington DC
The Republican Budget Project proposes cuts of 1.1 billion dollars in health that affect both Medicaid and the coverage of the affordable or ACA health care law, better known as Obamacare. According to estimates of the Congress Budget Office, some 16 million people could lose their medical coverage: 7.8 million would run out of medicaid and 8.2 million without the coverage of the affordable health care law.
Together, medical debt would increase by 50,000 million dollars as a result of changes in the Budget Law, 15% more than the current 34,000 million dollars in debts without paying, according to Third Way.
“Medical debt hinders American dream”
The loss of health coverage would increase by 5.4 million the number of people in families with medical debts, according to Third Way report. More than 100 million today have medical debts in the United States, according to Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).
It is estimated that 2.2 million households would suffer debts derived from the loss of medicaid coverage, while another 3.2 million due to the reforms to Obamacare, which could cause the loss of benefits or the increase in fees, Details Third Way.
Without coverage, families could have to deal with medical debts of up to $ 22,800, the report indicates. About 87% of households that did not have an average of $ 22,800 in balances before. Meanwhile, 13% of families could add an additional average of $ 8,790, in addition to $ 13,490 in existing balances.
“That will go back to people’s dreams, if they wait to go to college or have a solid retirement or buy another house,” said David Kendall, main investigator of Third Way health and fiscal policy. “Medical debt hinders the American dream, and we should not get worse.”
The medical insurance “makes a difference”
The White House said the proposed federal spending cuts seek to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse” in government programs, including Medicaid. The Trump government has said that its bill is a potential “unexpected economic gain for workers and middle class Americans” through tax cuts, higher wages and greater net salary.
In a letter sent on Monday in which the report of Third Way, the Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, a higher rank member of the Senate Budget Commission, and the Democratic Senators Cory Booker, of New Jersey; Cory Booker, New Jersey; Chuck Schumer, from New York; and Ron Wyden, from Oregon, urged Republican leaders to reconsider health cuts.
Addressing medical debt is a “national priority” with “bipartisan support”, they wrote in a letter to the leader of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, and the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. Currently, 16 states have taken measures to cancel medical debt or eliminate it from credit reports, they wrote.
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“The medical debt is a complex problem, but having a medical insurance makes a measurable difference,” they said, they also pointed out a 2013 study in The New England Journal of Medicine that found that Medicaid coverage reduces medical debt rates by 13.28 percentage points. The document, published before the extension of Medicaid by virtue of ACA, analyzed the effects of the extension of Medicaid in Oregon in 2008.
Legislators pointed out that Americans with medical invoices without paying can face “nefarious” consequences, such as delaying or dispensing with the necessary medical care, cutting food spending or other needs or borrowing more.
In addition to personal setbacks, these types of debts also affect consumer spending, which can prevent economic growth.
“If the Republican reconciliation project makes these drastic health cuts law, the United States working class families run the risk of borrowing even more,” the senators wrote.
“It’s not too late to stop these cuts,” they said.
