Chansky: Slashing Medicaid will have damning impacts

I am a family physician writing to share health issues that our community may soon face.

Proposed Medicaid cuts, recently passed in the House, could reach $880 billion and significantly reduce coverage for single mothers, children from low-income families, and individuals with diagnoses such as spinal cord injuries and Down’s syndrome. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation estimates that proposed cuts could result in approximately five million people being denied Medicaid, including at least 100,000 Coloradans from each Congressional district. This may lead to 34,200 more deaths each year.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) enables working families to access insurance. Proposed changes would shorten enrollment periods and make plans more expensive; two million people could lose insurance coverage next year alone. The ACA requires that insurances cover preventive care, such as labs and mammograms. This benefit may not survive challenges that would reduce preventive services for 150 million privately insured Americans. Women are at particular risk for loss of healthcare. Funding freezes have led to Planned Parenthood closures, limiting access to birth control, pap smears, cancer screening, and infection treatments.

Funding for childhood immunizations may be cut by $2 billion, during a measles outbreak that has caused more than 800 confirmed illnesses, killing two unvaccinated children. 2025 already has the highest number of cases in the past 25 years. The Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that if vaccination rates drop even 10%, there will be 11 million more measles cases in the next 25 years. If vaccination rates drop 50%, there will be 50 million more measles cases, 10 million more rubella cases, 4 million more polio cases, 10 million additional hospitalizations and 158,200 more deaths. Any of these changes will significantly undermine the quality of American healthcare and are extremely concerning.

Community members must reach out to our senators, representatives, and governor to express their opinions on these critical issues!

Maria Yvonne Chansky

Glenwood Springs