Lawmakers and health care leaders issued urgent warnings about the potential impact of proposed Medicaid cuts at the Hennepin Healthcare Center last Thursday, March 20. Systemic racism has long been embedded in the U.S. health care system, and the proposed cuts threaten to exacerbate existing disparities.
According to a study by Harvard Public Health, 40% of Black adults and 60% of Black children in Minnesota rely on Medicaid for health insurance. Additionally, 80% of Black mothers and those giving birth are covered by Medicaid.
“There has never been any period in American history where the health of Blacks was equal to that of whites. Disparity is built into the system,” medical historian Evelyn Hammonds wrote in the New York Times.
The cuts could disproportionately affect Black Minnesotans who already face significant health challenges compared to Black migrants in the state. A 2014 study of Medicaid recipients shows that Black Minnesotans have higher rates of type 2 diabetes, asthma, depression, and behavioral health issues like substance use disorder.
Black-born Minnesotans experience asthma, heart failure, and depression at three times the rate of African immigrants. The study also showed that Black-born Minnesotans had the highest rates of asthma, hypertension, and heart failure than any ethnic group among Medicaid recipients.
The proposed cuts would particularly impact the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansion group of working-age adults, who often rely on Medicaid for preventive care, mental health services, and emergency care. Jennifer DeCubellis, CEO of Hennepin Healthcare, emphasized that eliminating Medicaid coverage for this population would create a snowball effect, increasing the strain on the state’s already overburdened emergency departments and health care services.
Hennepin Healthcare, a key safety-net provider in the state, serves a diverse population, including many on Medicaid. Dr. Tom Wyatt, chair of emergency medicine at Hennepin Healthcare, warned that these cuts would overwhelm emergency departments, which he says are already constrained by high patient volumes.
“When we talk about, you know, a facility like ours being in over capacity, we don’t have the ability to take in those new patients, those sick patients that we normally would take in,”Wyatt said. “So I think that it’s not just patients on Medicaid, that becomes everybody, because we receive patients from all over the state and surrounding states for our specialty care.”
The situation is dire for many, including individuals like Linda Fess, who shared her personal experience at the press conference. Fess, who has a congenital heart defect, explained that without Medicaid she wouldn’t be able to afford the care she needs. “Medicaid is a necessary thing that can’t go away,” Fess said.
The press conference also highlighted the impact of Medicaid cuts on services for people with disabilities, including those receiving support through the Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI) Waiver, which helps individuals live at home or in the community instead of in a nursing home.
A study from the Minnesota Department of Human Services revealed that 44% of Black Minnesotans under 65 are insured through Medicaid, and more than half (64%) of Black children outside the seven-county metro area are also covered by Medicaid.
“We cannot allow cuts to Medicaid,” said Kelly Morrison, a physician and House Representative for Minnesota’s 4th District. “Medicaid is crucial for our pregnant women, new mothers, and children who need coverage for basic, life-saving services.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar highlighted the importance of preserving Medicaid funding, noting that just four Republican lawmakers in Minnesota could help block the proposed cuts. “You know, we talk greatly about the four that are needed to stop this catastrophe from taking place in our country, the four Republicans that need to be courageous, to be bold, actually, you know, give a damn about the American people.” Omar said.
“Because the reconciliation process gets rid of the filibuster process, which means in the Senate they only need 50, and so the floors really do matter. And that is not a huge number. We here in Minnesota have four Republican members of Congress that could fill that vacuum.”
Clint Combs welcomes reader responses to ccombs@spokesman-recorder.com.