Mayor Gallego and Senator Kelly Host Roundtable Discussing Trump/MAGA Republican Medicaid Cuts

16.1 million people.

That is the number of Americans, according to Beth Kohler, the head of the Arizona Association of Health Care Plans that could lose health insurance marketplace and Medicaid coverage if all of the cuts passed in Mr. Trump and MAGA Republicans reverse Robin Hood rob from the poor and give to the rich Angel of Death Big Beautiful Bill for the wealthy are fully implemented in the next few years.

For Arizona, that would mean between 200,000 and 350,000 people losing their health care coverage and a $2 to $3 billion reduction in Medicaid spending for the Grand Canyon State.

Kohler made these remarks during a presentation of the impact of Trump/MAGA Medicaid draconian cuts at a roundtable hosted by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Senator Mark Kelly at the Valleywise Health Medical Center.

In her presentation, Kohler pointed out that these cuts would also be caused on new onerous requirements for people seeking Medicaid and Affordable Care Act/Obamacare Marketplace coverage including:

• Raising health care insurance premium costs by taking away tax subsidies.
• Requiring people to prove employment every six months. Work documentation will have to be provided monthly. Guess tax income reports every April 15 do not count anymore.

The results of these cuts according to Kohler would harm individuals, families, businesses where health care costs would shift to, destabilize the Phoenix area health care sector, burden public services and safety, and hinder private, local, and state economic performance.

In her opening comments to the roundtable, Mayor Gallego said:

“The changes in federal legislation impact us deeply at the city of Phoenix, but more importantly, they impact everyone in Arizona.”

Later, after a discussion on the impact of these cuts on vulnerable populations, including the homeless, and services the Phoenix Mayor conveyed:

“If you use the health care system, this (The Trump/MAGA Republican Medicaid cuts) will impact you. If you want to see solutions to homelessness, this will make it more difficult. If you want to have a strong fire service, this is an impediment. So, Medicaid has been deeply impactful for us at the city. That’s on top of what we think may be significant financial impacts from the tax measures which may hit the city at a $50 million level when fully implemented. We’re working very hard to be very smart about these policies, to make sure our community understands them and to do our best to manage them as well as to find solutions…”

Later during panelist questions that brought up that people will resort to waiting until they are sicker before getting medical care, Gallego remarked:

“Our vulnerable people, are waiting untill they’re sicker to get care. Everyone loses In that situation, so we see that impact on the business…What if happens to the fire service. If we get more calls from sicker people and have lower reimbursement, We want to help people get the lowest cost health care early on before their conditions get more difficult.”

After the event, the Mayor issued several posts, including:

“This morning, @SenMarkKelly and I convened a group of healthcare leaders to discuss the federal cuts to Medicaid. The changes will have a devastating impact on our community and it is important that we start the conversation now.”

“Federal Medicaid cuts could strip coverage from thousands of Arizonans, drive up premiums, and severely strain our state’s health care system.”

“These Medicaid cuts will hurt every Arizonan, not just those losing coverage. Experts warn of: – Longer ER waits – Loss of rural health care access – Higher premiums for all.”

In his opening remarks to the roundtable, Senator Kelly commented:

“We’re here today because of the Medicaid Cuts. The Administration’s policies are going to touch every part of our health care system. They’re going to affect patients, providers, hospitals, and communities. Some of these changes are going to come pretty soon but others are going to take some time. It’ll take a few years for those changes to be implemented. Over time, we’re going to see a major shift in how healthcare Is delivered for Arizonans and who has access to any health care at all. We’ve seen the estimates. Hundreds of thousands of Arizonans could lose Medicaid coverage over the next decade. We could lose about two billion dollars a year in federal Medicaid (funds) once these cuts take full effect and premiums for many Arizonans are going to go up by upwards of about 26 percent and that’s for folks who get their health care off of the Affordable Care Act Exchange. So, in many cases, it will no longer be affordable and this is going to mean that many people get priced out of health insurance. What that means is that a lot of working parents will be unable to take their kids to a doctor and sick people are going to have to wait longer to get into an emergency room, And it also means that for seniors, after a long life, might see challenges getting into assisted living and nursing facilities. This isn’t making our state any better. Now, I’ve held Town Halls across the state where I’ve talked to people who feel they’re going to be impacted by this, and I heard some very compelling stories. Many stories, like a mom, Kiana Brown, who has adopted kids out of foster care. Those kids are on Medicaid. One has significant health care needs. She fears that she could lose that Medicaid coverage, and she told me It feels like they’re burning down my house, and my kids are still inside. Just because this bill is passed, it doesn’t mean we’re going to stop fighting to make this right. Mayor and I are continuing to be in this fight and I’m committed, and I know she is, to work with other local leaders and health care partners to make sure that we understand what these changes mean and what the impact is going to be and that we prepare for them and that we protect access to health care for the people who need it the most…”

After listening to the panelists, Kelly spoke about the impact of these Trump/MAGA cuts that will affect the whole health care and economic system, saying:

“The numbers are pretty staggering, but just here in Arizona, you know, just the reductions in money into the health care system to support tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people, is devastating to think that we’re going to wind up with 200 to 350,000 people losing health care coverage. It’s incredibly impactful. As our panelists stated, the impacts, and as the Mayor just state of the impacts are beyond just people on Medicaid. There isn’t a health care system that just supports Medicaid patients and another for Medicare patients and another for everybody else. It’s the same health care system and the foundation of our health care system here in Arizona is Medicaid. So, I think that should be clear to everybody and then the impact it’s just going to have on our economy and job loss could be devastating as well.”

Kelly then asked what Medicaid recipients should they do to prepare for the new reality if it is fully implemented.

Brittany Kaufman, the CEO of Arizona Health Systems Alliance of Arizona stressed that these changes, if enacted, would occur in the future, and people can still, for now, still enroll in health insurance as before. She also said that it was important for organizations like hers and other governmental and intergovernmental entities to intensify outreach efforts and educate the people on what is coming if these draconian cuts were not “reverted.”

Beth Kohler said that the state should try to make the new reporting compliance requirements as easy and accessible as possible and online through healthyaz.gov.

Lisa Nieri, Chief Programs Officer Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers suggested people reach out to Cover Arizona to reach experts who know the enrollment process and requirements and could assist with submitting the relevant documentation.

After the event, Senator Kelly posted:

“Thank you to @MayorGallego and all the community leaders who joined us to talk about Medicaid in Phoenix. With more than 300,000 Arizonans at risk of losing their insurance because of Trump and Republicans’ big bill, it’s critical for us to work together to protect folks’ health care.”