Sen. Lesser Reacts to Senate Proposal to Cut Billions More from Medicaid

HARTFORD – Today, State Senator Matt Lesser, Senate Chair of the Human Services Committee, released a statement in response to the U.S. Senate policy bill announced this week that would deliver billions more in Medicaid cuts than the House proposal passed last month. The proposal would limit a provision that provides more federal matching funds to states. The Medicaid provider tax is used by 49 states and would cutting its funding would shortchange states by billions of dollars.

“Donald Trump made a promise not to cut Medicaid, but this proposal will do exactly that. Make no mistake, Congressional Republicans are targeting Blue states who have expanded access to healthcare under the Affordable Care Act,” said Sen. Lesser. “Between gutting the Medicaid provider tax and strengthening the loss-of-work penalty, this proposal is even more devastating than what was proposed by the House, and will put 20% of Connecticut’s federal Medicaid funding at risk. This is an enormous cost-shift to the states, and while in Connecticut we are dedicated to protecting healthcare for our most vulnerable, there is only so much funding we can provide.”

“Whether it be protecting healthcare, food programs, heating assistance or any other basic need that comes under attack, I will always defend Connecticut against a hostile federal partner who continues to break their promises to the people they were elected to serve.”