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Medicaid Matters

April 26, 2005—Last month, you helped secure a Senate victory on Medicaid. Now the Bazelon Center needs your help to stop a slash and burn budget resolution in the House that would make deep and indiscriminate cuts to Medicaid.

Medicaid is the single largest source of public financing for mental health services. In just a few hours, the House of Representatives may consider a motion by Representative John Spratt (D-SC) that could shield this important program from the budget axe.

The Senate-passed budget resolution rejects the draconian cuts in Medicaid originally proposed by the Bush Administration and later approved by the Senate Finance Committee. Unfortunately, the House budget resolution contains approximately $20 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next five years.

Only one in two Americans who need mental health services can now access them—and often only through Medicaid. Additional Medicaid cuts, such as those passed by the House, would be disastrous for tens of thousands of people with mental illnesses.

Representative Spratt’s motion would instruct House members charged with reconciling differences between the Senate and House budget resolutions (the conferees) to reject indiscriminate Medicaid cuts and to accept the formation of a bipartisan Medicaid reform commission called for by the Senate’s budget resolution.

Please help us protect access to crucial services for people with mental illnesses by urging your Representative to support the Spratt amendment. Time is of the essence. The House could consider the amendment in the coming hours, and the budget conference report is expected on the House floor this Thursday, April 28th.

Whither Medicaid?: A Briefing Paper by the Campign form Mental health Reform on Mental Health Issues in Medicaid Restructuring

Take action Now!

Call the Capitol switchboard now at 202-224-3121 to be connected to your Representative and urge him or her to:

• Support Representative Spratt’s amendment; and

• Reject reckless Medicaid cuts in the final budget resolution.

Not sure who represents you in Congress? Find out now at http://www.congresss.org.

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