news

WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko voted last night to pass H. Res. 826, a House resolution expressing disapproval of the Trump Administration’s latest attacks on Medicaid that threaten the health care of millions of Americans. Last week, the Trump Administration unveiled its plan for states to convert Medicaid into a block grant program, opening the door for major cuts to services for Medicaid recipients.

“Medicaid exists to help millions of Americans, including many in our Capital Region, get access to the life-saving health services they and their families need to stay healthy and in some cases stay alive,” Congressman Tonko said. “President Trump’s Medicaid block grant plan would pull the rug out from under them and put their health and safety in great peril. My colleagues and I believe health care is a right, not a privilege, and we will continue fighting as long as necessary to protect the health and well-being of Americans and ensure that health care remains accessible and affordable for all.” 

In 2015, then-candidate Trump promised that he would not make cuts to Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security, reaffirming that promise repeatedly throughout 2016. The Trump Administration’s Medicaid block grant breaks that promise and would, in effect, push Medicaid recipients off of lifesaving medicines, impose unaffordable premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and leave families exposed to catastrophic medical bills—with particularly ruinous consequences for rural hospitals, families seeking opioid addiction treatment for their loved ones, veterans and for many others. 

The Resolution of Disapproval affirms the sense of the House of Representatives that:

• The illegal actions taken by the Trump Administration to undermine the Medicaid program, including beneficiary protections, are a cruel attack on a program that provides for the health and well-being for some of our most vulnerable citizens;
• The Trump Administration should immediately withdraw its illegal block grant guidance and cease its campaign to undermine and weaken Medicaid; and
• The Trump Administration should uphold its responsibility to faithfully execute the law, including the Medicaid Act, and cease any and all efforts that threaten the care of the millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid.
  

###