{"id":69141,"date":"2024-12-13T14:14:25","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T22:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=69141"},"modified":"2024-12-13T14:14:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T22:14:25","slug":"critical-federal-health-safety-nets-are-on-the-trump-administrations-chopping-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=69141","title":{"rendered":"Critical Federal Health Safety Nets Are On the Trump Administration\u2019s Chopping Block"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_author tdi_67 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_67\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span><a class=\"tdb-author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/author\/sunita\/\">Sunita Sohrabji<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_date tdi_68 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_68\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><i class=\"tdb-date-icon tdc-font-fa tdc-font-fa-calendar\"><\/i><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2024-12-11T20:17:43-08:00\">Dec 11, 2024<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_subtitle tdi_69 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_69\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>President-elect Donald Trump could use the unconstitutional process of impoundment to withhold funds to federal health safety net programs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_featured_image tdi_70 tdb-content-horiz-left td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_70\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"entry-thumb td-animation-stack-type0-2\" title=\"family\" src=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bruno-nascimento-eo11MS0FSnk-unsplash-scaled-e1733975546780.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"tdb-caption-text\">(Bruno Nascimento photo via Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_71 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_71\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>As it aims for a leaner budget, the incoming Trump administration may cut or eliminate several federal health safety nets, including Medicaid, the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program, and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.<\/p>\n<p>These three critical lifelines alone support 88 million low income residents in the US. Almost half of all children living in the US \u2014 about \u00a040 million \u2014\u00a0are enrolled in the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP.<\/p>\n<p>More than 34% of people under age 65 identifying as Latino are covered by Medicaid. 39% of Black people are covered by Medicaid, as are 35% of Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders. Roughly 28% of Asian Americans under 65 are also covered by Medicaid, according to data from Health and Human Services\u2019 Office of Minority Health.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">No Cuts to Social Security, Promises Trump<\/h2>\n<p>On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump promised not to cut Social Security or Medicare, which primarily serves people over 65. But Trump made little mention of Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income adults and children via CHIP.<\/p>\n<p>Medicaid is the largest source of federal funds coming into state budgets, and accounts for an average of 56% of a state\u2019s budget. \u201cSo if we do see big cuts to Medicaid, that will affect all areas of states\u2019 budget, not just their health budget,\u201d said Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families and Research Professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy Foundation.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Early Budget Resolution<\/h2>\n<p>Alker spoke at a Dec. 6 news briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services. Other speakers included Mayra Alvarez, President of the Children\u2019s Partnership, who discussed the impact of federal cuts to children. Richard Kogan, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, discussed impoundment, a little-used process the President could use to simply stop the flow of funds allocated by Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Cuts to Medicaid could happen even before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, explained Alker, explaining that a new, Republican-controlled House and Senate will likely hit the ground running on a budget resolution in January. Large cuts to Medicaid would create serious problems for state governments who would not be able to fill in the gap, she said, noting that such cuts would have a deep impact on America\u2019s aging population.<\/p>\n<p>The cuts will be back-loaded to play out over a 10-year period, noted the researcher. \u201cCongress is usually very good at thinking about ways to structure these kinds of cuts so that the pain is not immediately felt.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New Red Tape<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget2\" title=\"Voters \u2019Don\u2019t Want to See Big Cuts to Medicaid\u2019\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7C17kd1jDEI?feature=oembed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-11=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Joan Alker. All videos by Nina Mohan<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>New red tape is likely to be added, delaying enrollment for eligible people and their children. Health care providers who see a lot of low-wage workers, particularly those in rural communities could very likely face cuts in reimbursement, said Alker. \u201cThese cuts will be very hard for providers to absorb. So all of these different groups \u2014 children, seniors, people with disabilities, low-wage workers \u2014 will be put at risk if we see substantial cuts to Medicaid,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Medicaid is very popular with voters, polling right behind Medicare, one of the federal government\u2019s most popular programs. \u201cVoters don\u2019t want to see big cuts to Medicaid. This election was about cost concerns that families have, and they certainly don\u2019t want to be paying more health care costs,\u201d said Alker.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Project 2025<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget4\" title=\"Project 2025 Policy Recommendations Include Cuts to Nutrition Assistance Program\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ixGzGwN6zDk?feature=oembed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-11=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Mayra Alvarez.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Several of the proposals in Project 2025 \u2014 expected to be Trump\u2019s playbook for his 2<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0term in office \u2014 would cause irreparable harm to the health and well-being of children, said Alvarez of the Children\u2019s Partnership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChildren absolutely need healthcare services and the security that coverage like Medicaid or Medi-Cal in California provides. But they also require a safety net and access to services that include nutrition, economic supports, and more,\u201d she said, noting that the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and even school lunch programs are at risk for being cut or eliminated.<\/p>\n<p>SNAP, also known as food stamps, provides support to 40 million people. \u201cIt\u2019s our nation\u2019s first line of defense against hunger,\u201d said Alvarez, adding that the incoming administration has proposed $4 billion in cuts to the program over 5 years. \u201cThis is at a time when grocery prices have increased 24% between 2020 and 2023, and wages have not increased proportionately,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget6\" title=\"Will Trump\u2019s Budget Cuts Threaten Medi-Cal Coverage for Undocumented Californians?\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YVJEVJYT_Kg?feature=oembed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-11=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Mayra Alvarez.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Public Charge<\/h2>\n<p>The Trump administration will likely end the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also known as LIHEAP, which assists low-income families with their energy bills, said Alvarez. She also expressed concern that funding for the Women, Infants, and Children program \u2014 WIC \u2014 would be reduced.<\/p>\n<p>Families eligible for federal health support are likely to dis-enroll themselves, as they did with Trump\u2019s 1<sup>st<\/sup>\u00a0administration, for fear of the public charge rule, said Alvarez. Trump attempted to invoke public charge during his first term, threatening to deny adjustment of immigration status, if the applicant had availed of federal benefits. He created a chilling effect in the immigrant community, said Alvarez.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Impoundment is Unconstitutional<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget8\" title=\"Presidents Have No Authority to Refuse to Spend on Programs Enacted by Congress\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/go7DaohJTok?feature=oembed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-11=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Richard Kogan<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kogan of CBPP explained another seldom-used process known as impoundment, which allows the President to simply stop the flow of funds already approved by Congress. He stated that impoundment is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>Trump hinted at his intent to use impoundment during several campaign rallies. \u201cWe\u2019re going to bring back presidential impoundment authority, which nobody knows what it is. But it allows the president to go out and cut things and save a fortune for our country,\u201d he said, as reported by NPR.<\/p>\n<p>Kogan first began researching the legalities of impoundment 52 years ago, as former President Richard Nixon used the process to deny funds to social welfare programs. Nixon faced nine lawsuits and lost all of them. In 1974, Congress approved the Impoundment Control Act, attempting to limit similar presidential actions.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">President Must Obey Congress<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cMuch of the public discussion of impoundment is very confused or often just plain wrong,\u201d said Kogan. \u201cThe key takeaway is that presidents have never had the general authority to impound funding enacted into law by Congress, and Congress couldn\u2019t even grant such authority to the president if it wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst, the US Constitution does not grant the president the right to impound funds. It is just the opposite. The Constitution says that Congress decides what to spend money on and how much, and that the president\u2019s job is to \u2018take care that the laws be faithfully executed.\u2019\u201d \u00a0he said.<\/p>\n<p>In 1996, Congress approved the Line Item Veto Act, which gave Presidents the authority to make selective vetoes of line items within appropriations bills. A line item veto, effectively an impoundment, would go into effect unless Congress wrote a new law to forbid it. But the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Act was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI worry about the types of cuts that Congress might make, taking away or reducing health care, food assistance, education aid, or housing support for some or tens of millions of people. But it is Congress\u2019s job to write the budget laws and the President\u2019s job to faithfully follow those budget laws. This is not optional,\u201d said Kogan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BySunita Sohrabji Dec 11, 2024 President-elect&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-opinion","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69142,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69141\/revisions\/69142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}