SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee, testifies before the Senate Finance Committee Jan. 9, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
160 Groups Oppose Trump Medicaid Policy That 'Cruelly Punishes and Stigmatizes Low-Income People'
Healthcare, criminal justice, and civil rights advocates warn that Medicaid work requirements "have a significant and disproportionately harmful effect on individuals with chronic health conditions."
Feb 16, 2018
On the heels of a similar action by scores of lawmakers, 160 healthcare, criminal justice, and civil rights organizations have come out against the Trump administration's allowance and encouragement of states implementing work or "community engagement" requirements for Americans trying to attain Medicaid.
"CMS's new policy cruelly punishes and stigmatizes low-income people--depriving them of the life-saving care that many need to become and remain healthy."
--Gabrielle de la Gueronniere,
Legal Action Center
In a letter (pdf) to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the groups assert that the guidance issued last month by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which enables states to impose the requirements, "will have a significant and disproportionately harmful effect on individuals with chronic health conditions, especially those struggling with substance use disorders (SUDs) and mental health disorders, as well as those with conviction and arrest records."
"Individuals may be caught in a bitter catch-22, where they cannot qualify for Medicaid because they do not have documentation of disability, but they cannot get their disability documented because they do not have health coverage," the letter warns. "CMS allowing states to make it difficult for Americans to access vital SUD care through Medicaid likely will increase the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic nationwide."
"The CMS guidance also fails to recognize the stigma, discrimination, and related legal and policy barriers to employment confronting people with criminal records," the letter declares. "CMS's policy will make it even more difficult for people with criminal records to obtain needed physical and mental healthcare services and medications critical to successful reentry."
The letter also points out that "children of parents who are struggling with these conditions, or parents who have conviction and arrest records, will be significantly and negatively affected by the disproportionately harmful effect upon their parents," and that the policy actually impedes efforts by Americans who are struggling with poverty, addiction, or a criminal record, to secure and maintain steady employment.
"Putting obstacles in the way of access to healthcare does not support work but instead puts a critical support for work at risk," the letter notes. "When people are not healthy or able to get needed medications they are less likely to be able to work."
"Children of parents who are struggling with these conditions, or parents who have conviction and arrest records, will be significantly and negatively affected by the disproportionately harmful effect upon their parents."
--Letter to HHS Secretary
Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, director of policy at the Legal Action Center, which helped draft the letter, concluded that "CMS's new policy cruelly punishes and stigmatizes low-income people--depriving them of the life-saving care that many need to become and remain healthy."
She also noted that the Trump administration "has stated that stemming the opioid crisis and reforming the criminal justice system are key priorities," but "this new CMS policy is totally contrary to achieving both of those important goals."
The groups were praised by critics of the CMS policy, including Andy Slavitt, who oversaw the centers for the Obama administration, and who called out the Department of Health and Human Services for masquerading as the Labor Department.
The groups' letter to Azar followed a similar letter (pdf) sent to him by 172 Democratic members of the U.S. House earlier this week. "The reality is that CMS's recent actions," the Democrats wrote, "ignore a fundamental truth: most of those who can work, are working, but many fall through the cracks and lose their coverage due to harsh and inflexible implementation of this ideologically-driven policy."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
On the heels of a similar action by scores of lawmakers, 160 healthcare, criminal justice, and civil rights organizations have come out against the Trump administration's allowance and encouragement of states implementing work or "community engagement" requirements for Americans trying to attain Medicaid.
"CMS's new policy cruelly punishes and stigmatizes low-income people--depriving them of the life-saving care that many need to become and remain healthy."
--Gabrielle de la Gueronniere,
Legal Action Center
In a letter (pdf) to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the groups assert that the guidance issued last month by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which enables states to impose the requirements, "will have a significant and disproportionately harmful effect on individuals with chronic health conditions, especially those struggling with substance use disorders (SUDs) and mental health disorders, as well as those with conviction and arrest records."
"Individuals may be caught in a bitter catch-22, where they cannot qualify for Medicaid because they do not have documentation of disability, but they cannot get their disability documented because they do not have health coverage," the letter warns. "CMS allowing states to make it difficult for Americans to access vital SUD care through Medicaid likely will increase the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic nationwide."
"The CMS guidance also fails to recognize the stigma, discrimination, and related legal and policy barriers to employment confronting people with criminal records," the letter declares. "CMS's policy will make it even more difficult for people with criminal records to obtain needed physical and mental healthcare services and medications critical to successful reentry."
The letter also points out that "children of parents who are struggling with these conditions, or parents who have conviction and arrest records, will be significantly and negatively affected by the disproportionately harmful effect upon their parents," and that the policy actually impedes efforts by Americans who are struggling with poverty, addiction, or a criminal record, to secure and maintain steady employment.
"Putting obstacles in the way of access to healthcare does not support work but instead puts a critical support for work at risk," the letter notes. "When people are not healthy or able to get needed medications they are less likely to be able to work."
"Children of parents who are struggling with these conditions, or parents who have conviction and arrest records, will be significantly and negatively affected by the disproportionately harmful effect upon their parents."
--Letter to HHS Secretary
Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, director of policy at the Legal Action Center, which helped draft the letter, concluded that "CMS's new policy cruelly punishes and stigmatizes low-income people--depriving them of the life-saving care that many need to become and remain healthy."
She also noted that the Trump administration "has stated that stemming the opioid crisis and reforming the criminal justice system are key priorities," but "this new CMS policy is totally contrary to achieving both of those important goals."
The groups were praised by critics of the CMS policy, including Andy Slavitt, who oversaw the centers for the Obama administration, and who called out the Department of Health and Human Services for masquerading as the Labor Department.
The groups' letter to Azar followed a similar letter (pdf) sent to him by 172 Democratic members of the U.S. House earlier this week. "The reality is that CMS's recent actions," the Democrats wrote, "ignore a fundamental truth: most of those who can work, are working, but many fall through the cracks and lose their coverage due to harsh and inflexible implementation of this ideologically-driven policy."
On the heels of a similar action by scores of lawmakers, 160 healthcare, criminal justice, and civil rights organizations have come out against the Trump administration's allowance and encouragement of states implementing work or "community engagement" requirements for Americans trying to attain Medicaid.
"CMS's new policy cruelly punishes and stigmatizes low-income people--depriving them of the life-saving care that many need to become and remain healthy."
--Gabrielle de la Gueronniere,
Legal Action Center
In a letter (pdf) to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the groups assert that the guidance issued last month by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which enables states to impose the requirements, "will have a significant and disproportionately harmful effect on individuals with chronic health conditions, especially those struggling with substance use disorders (SUDs) and mental health disorders, as well as those with conviction and arrest records."
"Individuals may be caught in a bitter catch-22, where they cannot qualify for Medicaid because they do not have documentation of disability, but they cannot get their disability documented because they do not have health coverage," the letter warns. "CMS allowing states to make it difficult for Americans to access vital SUD care through Medicaid likely will increase the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic nationwide."
"The CMS guidance also fails to recognize the stigma, discrimination, and related legal and policy barriers to employment confronting people with criminal records," the letter declares. "CMS's policy will make it even more difficult for people with criminal records to obtain needed physical and mental healthcare services and medications critical to successful reentry."
The letter also points out that "children of parents who are struggling with these conditions, or parents who have conviction and arrest records, will be significantly and negatively affected by the disproportionately harmful effect upon their parents," and that the policy actually impedes efforts by Americans who are struggling with poverty, addiction, or a criminal record, to secure and maintain steady employment.
"Putting obstacles in the way of access to healthcare does not support work but instead puts a critical support for work at risk," the letter notes. "When people are not healthy or able to get needed medications they are less likely to be able to work."
"Children of parents who are struggling with these conditions, or parents who have conviction and arrest records, will be significantly and negatively affected by the disproportionately harmful effect upon their parents."
--Letter to HHS Secretary
Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, director of policy at the Legal Action Center, which helped draft the letter, concluded that "CMS's new policy cruelly punishes and stigmatizes low-income people--depriving them of the life-saving care that many need to become and remain healthy."
She also noted that the Trump administration "has stated that stemming the opioid crisis and reforming the criminal justice system are key priorities," but "this new CMS policy is totally contrary to achieving both of those important goals."
The groups were praised by critics of the CMS policy, including Andy Slavitt, who oversaw the centers for the Obama administration, and who called out the Department of Health and Human Services for masquerading as the Labor Department.
The groups' letter to Azar followed a similar letter (pdf) sent to him by 172 Democratic members of the U.S. House earlier this week. "The reality is that CMS's recent actions," the Democrats wrote, "ignore a fundamental truth: most of those who can work, are working, but many fall through the cracks and lose their coverage due to harsh and inflexible implementation of this ideologically-driven policy."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.