For Immediate Release

May 8, 2023

Contact: Jack Cardinal, (781) 960-5208, jcardinal@communitycatalyst.org 

In advance of the meeting tomorrow at the White House between the President and congressional leaders on the debt ceiling, Emily Stewart, Executive Director of Community Catalyst, issued the following statement:

“Our message to Speaker McCarthy is clear: gutting Medicaid to protect tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations is shameful. We implore you to start listening to the President and stop holding the economy hostage while advancing cuts that would exacerbate inequity and drive more families into medical debt. Medicaid is a popular program and should never be a political bargaining chip. 

“Health care is no longer affordable for most people in America. Taking Medicaid away from tens of millions of low-income workers and families will only make matters worse at a time of great economic uncertainty, and that harms us all. 

“With the cost of everything from eggs to prescription drugs rising, we should be making health care more accessible to those who need it most, not taking it away.”

The House bill puts tens of millions of people at risk of losing their health insurance. No one should have to exhaust their life savings, their retirement accounts, or lose their housing because they got sick. The cuts proposed would lead to more long term costs, more uninsured families who won’t be able to get quality health care, and more medical debt. 

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About Community Catalyst: 

Community Catalyst is a leading non-profit national health advocacy organization dedicated to advancing a movement for race equity and health justice. We partner with local, state and national advocates to leverage and build power so all people can influence decisions that affect their health. Health systems will not be accountable to people without a fully engaged and organized community voice. That’s why we work every day to ensure people’s interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and health care are made: in communities, state houses and on Capitol Hill.For more information, visit http://communitycatalyst.org. Follow us on Twitter @CommCatHealth.