CENTER POINT, Iowa (KCRG-TV9) – A Center Point family is heading to Washington D.C. on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to protect, not cut children’s Medicaid.
KCRG
The Schmidt family is representing the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
The fight for Medicaid is personal to their family. They say without it, they would have gone bankrupt.
“Medicaid has kept our family out of bankruptcy. Basically, I mean when you have a child you don’t expect, you know, you plan for diapers and bottles you don’t plan for hundreds of thousands and a million dollars,” Heidi Schmidt said.
The children’s hospital says more than 40 percent of children rely on Medicaid.
“Dramatic cuts to Medicaid as proposed in the House and Senate bills endanger the continued viability of our nation’s children’s hospitals,” said Children’s Hospital Association President and CEO Mark Wietecha. “As a matter of public policy, we should not be attempting to fix our national budget problems by cutting children’s health care.”
The Senate Republicans’ plan would cut projected Medicaid spending over the next decade by 25 percent, but it has hit a reported impasse as some senators on the right think it goes too far– others say not far enough.
Republican Congressman Rod Blum voted in favor of the House’s version of the bill. He was uncertain it would make it back to his chamber.
“It sounds like it’s bogged down, they don’t have the votes that’s gonna take to pass it I think there’s like ten senators, Republican senators that are against it,” Blum said.
The Schmidt family says their fight for Medicaid is a human issue, not a partisan one.
“We’re not going there as Democrats or Republicans, we’re going there as concerned parents for children that have disabilities or special needs and are gonna need long-term care,” Kevin Schmidt said.
They’re also hoping more research is done and treatments created so that Ellie can live a long and healthy life.