Say “No” to House鈥檚 Cuts to Medicaid and Other Crucial Services for Struggling Americans
House Votes This Week: Please Call Now
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law听 May 8, 2012
听
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听. Under that law, across-the-board cuts (called 鈥渟equestration鈥) would be made in 2013.听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.听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!
听
What You Can Do
Please call your U.S. Representative听听and听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听听(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听
听
Resources
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
- : 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
听