Medicaid Cuts Threaten Schools and Children

Among the list of cuts proposed to serve Trump’s tax plan is Medicaid, a 50 year old entitlement program that funds medical care for low-income individuals and families and people with disabilities.

Cuts to Medicaid, which provides health coverage to more than 37 million children, would have devastating ripple effects not only on children’s health but also on their educational outcomes and long-term success.

While Medicaid is primarily known as a health insurance program, it is also among the largest funding sources for K-12 public schools. Medicaid’s school-based services cover speech and occupational therapy, mental health counseling, specialized medical equipment, and transportation. Medicaid also helps to identify and support children with delays or disabilities as early as possible by funding developmental screenings, evaluations, and early intervention services for infants and toddlers.

Without Medicaid, schools would face impossible choices: cutting general education programs, reducing support for students with disabilities, or raising local taxes. Low-income and rural districts, which serve higher proportions of Medicaid-eligible students, would bear the brunt of these cuts. Families would endure longer waits for services in their communities. Despite confusion about this, Medicaid is jointly financed by federal and state governments. Proposals to turn Medicaid into block grants or per capita caps (a fixed amount per beneficiary) would shift costs to states (Puerto Rico’s Medicaid is already financed this way and it doesn’t work). This would strain preK-12 education even more.

Medicaid provides health coverage to nearly half of all children in the United States, and there is no question that it leads to better outcomes for these children and our nation. Research shows positive long-term impacts, including that children served by Medicaid are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and earn higher wages as adults. School-based health services have also been shown to improve student health, reduce absenteeism, and lower healthcare costs. And the public understands this. Cuts to Medicaid will be unpopular with most Americans and are likely to spark political backlash.

Medicaid matters for schools, children, and the future of our nation. Congress must protect, not cut, this critical program.