Protect Medicaid and fair taxes for 80% of your constituents

I am writing to urge you to protect Medicaid and uphold fair tax policies that prioritize working- and middle-class Americans. Nearly one-fifth of all Americans – about 82 million people – rely on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program for health care coverage . This includes some of our most vulnerable neighbors as well as hardworking families. Gutting Medicaid or other social safety nets in order to give more tax cuts to the wealthy would harm not just vulnerable populations, but whole communities – including, potentially, your own families and constituents. Cuts to Medicaid would have devastating effects on Americans across all walks of life: • Millions lose critical care: Medicaid provides health coverage to one in five Americans, 70 million people! 40% children! • Communities and hospitals suffer: I can personally tell you that healthcare in Scranton, PA is not in line with US standards, Ridley park, PA OSS less than third world nation expectations (my opinion). • Long-term harm to families and economy: Children who lose Medicaid now are likely to grow up less healthy, attain less education, and earn lower incomes as adults . In fact, experts warn that Medicaid cuts today could even cost taxpayers more in the future, as those uninsured children become adults who contribute less in taxes and require more assistance. Simply put, slashing Medicaid will increase hardship for ordinary Americans and weaken our nation’s future. (It’s no wonder roughly 77% of Americans have a favorable view of Medicaid and want it protected .) At the same time, recent tax policies have disproportionately benefited the wealthy while offering little to working people. The 2017 tax law, for instance, handed enormous breaks to millionaires and billionaires: Households in the top 1% of income received an average tax cut of about $61,000 per year, while middle-class families saw an average cut of only about $900 . In total, the richest 1% of Americans reaped a stunning 20% of the tax law’s benefits, compared to just 11% of the benefits for the entire middle class . You have a responsibility to prioritize your constituents and communities over the interests of billionaires. I urge you in the strongest terms to reject any proposal that would cut Medicaid or undermine our social safety nets. Instead, please work on tax and budget policies that ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share and invest in America’s families and communities. By protecting Medicaid and maintaining fair tax policies, you will be standing up for the nearly 80% of Americans who work hard, play by the rules, and just want a fair chance for their families – and you will show that Congress puts people first, not billionaires.