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The Senate is currently considering its Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2005, which establishes the parameters for federal taxes and spending for next year. The Senate Budget Resolution (S. Con. Res. 95) would require cuts in entitlement programs, and the Budget Committee report assumes these cuts would include an $11 billion reduction in Medicaid over 5 years. Given the severe fiscal challenges being faced by many states, it is critical that this vital program not be cut.
The Senate will finish work on the Budget Resolution this week. Contact your Senators NOW and urge them to convey the following message:
- Medicaid provides crucial services to over 50 million low-income family members, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
- More than one million people have lost coverage under these programs as a result of state budget cuts during the past two years. Reducing the federal investment in Medicaid would leave many states with no choice but to implement further cuts in their programs, causing even more low-income and disabled Americans to lose health care coverage.
- Support the Baucus amendment to delete the provision in the Senate budget resolution that mandates entitlement cuts, which could have a devastating impact on state Medicaid budgets and on the poor, the elderly, and disabled individuals, and
- Oppose any cuts to Medicaid in the Budget Resolution.
Phone Calls
Because time is short, one effective way to communicate your concern is to contact your Senators directly and leave a brief phone message. You can contact their offices through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Once you are connected to the Senators office, ask to speak with the appropriate staffer if you already have a relationship with the office, or with the budget legislative assistant. You may get voicemail, so use the bullets above to leave a short message. Identify yourself and where you are from.
While calls to all Senators are important, the following offices especially need to be contacted:
| Bayh Bond Breaux Byrd Campbell Carper Chafee Cochran |
Coleman Collins Conrad DeWine Dole Domenici Feingold Fitzgerald |
Harkins Hutchinson, K.B. Jeffords Lugar McCain Miller Nelson Roberts |
Smith Smith Snowe Specter Warner |