The proposed cuts in the budget reconciliation bill could dramatically impact small businesses. Delmarva Public Media's Don Rush talks with Leo Cuello, research professor at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, who says the funds are vital for their survival.
Proposed Medicaid cuts in the budget reconciliation bill now moving through Congress may have a negative impact, not only in recipients, but also small businesses. This is Don Rush. The Congressional Budget Office found that some 11 million people may actually lose their benefits. Leo Cuello, a research professor at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, warns they could have an impact on those small enterprises if the measure goes through as it is.
“So, what our report shows is that Medicaid coverage is critical to small businesses and their employees. Small businesses face higher healthcare costs in the private insurance market, and it is much more difficult for them to obtain comprehensive healthcare coverage for their workers and their families. And so, Medicaid plays a really important role. One third of Medicaid enrollees are connected to small businesses. They're either employees, owners, or family of small businesses”, said Cuello.
They want people to be working. What's the story with that? How does that fit in with the cuts?
“But here's what you need to understand about this. First of all, 92% of the Medicaid population is already working or has a good reason for not working, like they're a full-time student. So, there isn't really a problem here to be addressed. But at the same time, when they implement these work requirements, which we've seen in state after state, when they've tried to do it, what actually happens is workers lose their health insurance. Why? Because what the work requirement is, is a reporting requirement for people who are working who have to prove their constant employment in order to be able to keep their insurance. And eventually there's a month where they fail and they lose their health insurance. So, this is actually bad for workers”, he warned.
Are there other provisions there also that impact, then, small businesses?
“For example, they have eight different provisions that are all attacking the Medicaid expansion program, which is the program that covers your average low wage worker, including those in a small business. So, they have provisions that include cost sharing for these people. They have a provision that stops paying for some of their past medical bills. They have provisions forcing them to go through eligibility checks twice a year, which is going to result in a lot of people losing their coverage. So, there are a lot of provisions that are going to hurt the workers directly. And then there are provisions that make huge funding cuts to states, huge funding cuts to hospitals, to the nursing homes to take care of seniors. And those provisions are also going to have a really detrimental impact on access to healthcare in the state”, Cuello continued.
Are there particular workers that are going to be the hardest hit, do you think?
“Yeah, so I mean, when we talk about the small business sector, right? Think about your local community and all the small businesses that you use. Think about who is providing childcare in your community. Small businesses. Who is providing the food services, the restaurants, the diners? Small businesses. The local hardware small store. Small businesses. Construction trades, contractors, subcontractors. Small businesses. And if you think about just healthcare itself, the home healthcare workers that are taking care of seniors, taking care of children with disabilities, these are also small businesses, and that's going to have really detrimental impacts for your community and the ability of small businesses to actually stay open because they don't have a hundred workers to draw from”, he finished.
Leo Cuello, research professor at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families on the potential impact of the proposed Medicaid cuts in the legislation now moving through Congress. This is Don Rush for Delmarva Public Media.
