The Republican-led Congress continues to debate the first draft of major tax and budget cuts. Right now, it attempts to cut nearly $5 trillion in taxes over the coming years, paid for, in part, by the government healthcare program Medicaid.
That has some hospital leaders in Texas on edge.
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WATCH HEREFive days a week, Crystal Castanon drives to Dallas from Kaufman County with her 7-year-old daughter, Hope.
"We've had good days. We've had sad days. We've had bad days, crying days, and didn’t understand-kind-of-day," said Castanon.
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SIGN UP Born with a rare disease, Hope is now on the waiting list for a kidney transplant at Children’s Health in the Dallas Medical District. In the meantime, Medicaid pays for several hours of dialysis every day except Wednesdays and Sundays.
“She wouldn’t have the opportunity to be here today if it wasn’t for the insurance that we had," said Castanon.
Hope is one of roughly 3 million Texas children who get health insurance from federal and Texas taxpayers through Medicaid. It's a program Congress is aiming to dial back to help pay for between $4 trillion and $5 trillion in tax cuts. Republicans and the Trump administration hope the tax cut package will supercharge economic growth.
Lone Star Politics
Covering politics throughout the state of Texas.
The latest plan freezes the amount of money going into supplemental Medicaid programs through what’s called provider taxes. Provider taxes are taxes placed on hospitals themselves to draw down matching federal money through Medicaid.
Even small changes to Medicaid can have big impacts in Texas. According to the Children’s Hospital Association of Texas, roughly 40% of children in the state get health insurance from Medicaid. About two-thirds of patients at children’s hospitals are on the program.
“We’re very appreciative that there aren’t deeper cuts," said Stacy Wilson, president of the Children’s Hospital Association of Texas.
Wilson tells 온라인카지노사이트 5 those supplemental programs paid for by provider taxes help support specialty care at Children’s Health, including orthopedics, cancer care and neurosurgery.
“I just worry about the kids and pregnant women, those are the people that we treat. I’m just concerned there’s not a way to make up that revenue," said Wilson.
The final tax and budget cut plan is expected to pass later this summer. The details remain in flux as negotiations continue and hospital leaders watch closely.
