What does the Big Ugly Bill mean for Northwest Washington?
Last week, I spent my time at home talking to local health care providers and food banks about how the Republicans' Big Ugly Bill will impact our friends and neighbors.
There is a reason why I call the legislation that passed earlier this month the Big Ugly Bill. The impact of this bill is going to be pretty ugly when more than 328,000 people in our state will lose access to health insurance due to Medicaid cuts or the loss of the premium tax credit, which supports the purchase of health insurance.
Medicaid provides health coverage to 1.5 million Washingtonians, 20.3% of all Washingtonians. This is a breakdown of who relies on Medicaid for health coverage in Washington:
- 38.3% of all children
- 35% of moms giving birth and their newborn babies
- 39.8% of working-age adults with disabilities
- 59% of people living in nursing homes
- 15% of Medicare beneficiaries
- 16.1% of adults aged 19-64
The cuts from the Big Ugly Bill are going to hurt our friends and neighbors. We are already hearing that PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham expects to see more people without health insurance coming to the emergency room for health care. At the Everett Food Bank, staff are expecting to see longer lines and less food because of the Big Ugly Bill. Republicans are cutting the federal food assistance program by 20%, the largest cut in history.
This bill is set to roll out for the next 10 years and will continue to be a rolling thunder of bad news for Northwest Washington. Even though this bill passed, I will be spending a lot of my time trying to stop these devastating cuts from happening.
Rick
