Say “No” to House’s Cuts to Medicaid and Other Crucial Services for Struggling Americans
House Votes This Week: Please Call Now
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law May 8, 2012
The U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a vote this week on a bill that would deeply cut domestic programs in order to avoid the across-the-board cuts Congress and the president agreed to last year in the Budget Control Act. Under that law, across-the-board cuts (called “sequestration”) would be made in 2013. The Sequestor Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012, now being considered by the House, would cut billions of dollars from programs that assist low-income Americans. It would, among other things, allow states to cut Medicaid, repeal the Social Services Block Grant eliminating all its funding, and repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund established under the Affordable Care Act.
This bill is not a fair and balanced approach to reducing the nation’s deficit. What is worse, these cuts target people with disabilities and many other marginalized Americans. But you can help!
What You Can Do
Please call your U.S. Representative (identify yours here) and ask her/him to vote NO on the Sequestor Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012 on the House floor this week. Use the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Bill-in-Brief
The Sequestor Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012 would implement the House Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Resolution (H.Con Res. 112) which directed six House Committees to make billions of dollars in spending reductions over the next decade. Among other things, the bill:
- Eliminates the Prevention and Public Health Fund (authorized by the Affordable Care Act), which expands the reach of important mental health programs including suicide prevention efforts and primary and behavioral health care integration
- Repeals the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Maintenance of Effort requirement that prevents states from cutting Medicaid eligibility prior to the date when the Affordable Care Act becomes effective (in 2014 for adults and 2019 for children)
- Repeals the Social Services Block Grant (Title X of the Social Security Act), which funds important support services that help adults and children, including those with disabilities, avoid inappropriate institutional care and funds vital transitional services for youth
Resources
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
- House Budget Bills Would Target Programs for Lower-Income Families While Breaking Last Summer’s Bipartisan Deal: Package Would Enable Defense Funds to Be Set Above Agreed-to Caps, While Non-Defense Discretionary Funds Are Cut Nearly As Much As Under Sequestration
- Medicaid Maintenance-of-Effort Requirement Does Not Stop States from Fighting Fraud
- House Bill Would Cut Medicaid Funding for Puerto Rico by About $5.5 Billion Through 2019Eliminating Social Services Block Grant Would Weaken Services for Vulnerable Children, Adults, and Disabled