Dear editor:
Last month, Congress passed a budget plan that will require deep cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program and a decrease in Americans’ ability to access healthcare.
Medicaid currently covers roughly 66,000 people in Wyoming—12 percent of our total population. The people who depend on it include pregnant women, new moms, and more than half of seniors living in nursing homes.
Rep. Harriet Hageman voted for the budget plan, which is designed to cut federal programs in order to offset the cost of individual and corporate tax cuts.
Her vote must have rankled some Wyoming residents. In her March 2 “Wyoming Round-Up” email, Rep. Hageman acknowledged that she received calls and emails from constituents after the vote who were upset about her support for cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
Instead of owning up to her decision and admitting she chose tax cuts over healthcare, however, Rep. Hageman did something sketchy: She claimed that, in fact, her constituents were simply confused, and she hadn’t voted to cut Medicaid at all!
“This allegation is simply untrue,” she wrote. “Congress is discussing how we can best reform these programs to provide the best care for those truly in need.”
Rep. Hageman’s reply was an example of the kind of slick Washington, D.C.-style doublespeak that people in Wyoming hate. As she returns to home for a series of town halls over the next few weeks, we might do well to remind her of that.
If you squint real hard and ignore reality, Rep. Hageman’s claim almost passes muster. The budget plan she voted for does not contain specific details about how or how much to cut Medicaid for seniors, children, disabled people, or the other Wyomingites who depend on it for health coverage.
What the budget plan that Rep. Hageman helped advance absolutely does do, however, is restrict the amount of money available to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. This is the Congressional committee that assigns funding to Medicaid and Medicare.
In order to follow the budget plan that Rep. Hageman voted for—which calls for $880 million in cuts to pay for the tax breaks—the committee will simply have no choice but to cut Medicaid, Medicare, or both. The budget plan does not provide them enough money to do any differently.
Just like her constituents, Rep. Hageman is not confused about what she voted for. That’s why her response to people voicing real concerns is so disappointing.
We all know that Rep. Hageman is under considerable pressure to fall in line and do whatever she can to support President Trump’s tax cuts, especially with such a thin Republican majority in Congress.
Pitting that obligation against Medicaid and Medicare is difficult, since the budget plan Rep. Hageman voted for could result in seniors losing their nursing home placements, new mothers not having access to mental healthcare when they experience postpartum depression, or even rural hospitals like the one in Rawlins shutting down.
If this budget plan ultimately passes the U.S. Senate and becomes law, these things could all do real harm to Wyoming residents, including you and your family, and have serious political consequences.
But that is no excuse for Rep. Hageman to be dishonest about the way she votes.
Sincerely,
Nate Martin,
Executive Director, Better Wyoming
