Trump budget + Trumpcare would gut healthcare program 1 out of 10 Veterans rely on
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 16 of their colleagues in outlining how President Trump’s budget and health care plan would jeopardize health care for more than 60,000 Veterans in Illinois and nearly 2 million Veterans across the country who depend on Medicaid to get the coverage they have earned. Trumpcare would cut Medicaid by $834 billion and eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, which 340,000 veterans use for health coverage. The budget President Trump proposed this week would slash Medicaid by an additional $610 billion, which would put the well-being of Veterans, their families, and millions of other Americans at risk. The President’s proposals are a direct violation of his campaign promise to improve Veterans’ health care and make sure “our Veterans get the care they need.”
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“Your proposed cuts to Medicaid and your efforts to take away people’s health coverage are inconsistent with the promises you made to America’s veterans. They deserve better,” wrote the Senators. “We urge you to consider the impacts that gutting Medicaid would have on the lives and health of those who have sacrificed so much in service to our nation.”
The Senators also raised significant concerns about the impact of slashing investments in behavioral health research on America’s Veterans, who struggle with higher rates of substance use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder than the general population. President Trump’s budget would cut the National Institutes of Health by 20%, leaving the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse with less resources to support research for treating substance use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injuries. It would also eliminate nearly $400 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which helps communities fight the opioid epidemic.
The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).
