Washington, DC—As tensions around our country’s pending default crisis, a new paper from Scott Lilly, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress examines the impact potential Medicaid cuts would have on maintaining the middle class. The majority of those who benefit from Medicaid are pregnant women, the disabled and the elderly, making cuts to the vital program even more detrimental to middle class families.
In his analysis, Lilly looks at the Paul Ryan proposal adopted and passed by the Republican House majority, and what shifting costs to the states would mean for the disabled, the elderly and the ones who maintain their care. Join AEI’s Norman J. Ornstein and CAP’s Scott Lilly this Monday, July 11, 2011 at noon Eastern to discuss how Medicaid should not be a sacrificial lamb in deficit reduction deals.
FACTS ABOUT MEDICAID AND THE MIDDLE CLASS FROM “The Ryan Medicaid Plan A Threat to Middle Class Security” by Scott Lilly
The face of Medicaid is overwhelmingly middle class, some facts about the program’s beneficiaries include:
- Many elderly and disabled Medicaid beneficiaries once lived in middle class households,
- The elderly and disabled make up only 25 percent of Medicaid’s enrollees thought they account for two-thirds of Medicaid spending,
- An overwhelming number of adults receiving Medicaid are neither aged nor disabled,
- Medicaid pays for prenatal and maternity care and that care is at least partially responsible for the dramatic decreases in miscarriages and infant mortality that have taken place in this country since 1960, when Medicaid became law,
- Reducing the health care available to unborn children through the mother’s prenatal Medicaid care would reduce the number who attend school ready to learn and would also place the broader population at risk from the stand point of public health.
WHO:
Norman J. Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute Scholar
Scott Lilly, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress
WHAT: Media Conference Call to discuss the effects of Medicaid on the Middle Class
WHEN: 12:00 PM EST
Monday, July 11, 2011
CALL IN INFO: (877) 210-8943
PASSCODE: 82722015
**Please note, this call will be recorded. By participating in the call, you consent to be recorded.**
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