Reducing Eligibility to Life Saving Services

The current administration has continuously targeted federal benefit programs important to low-income Americans for drastic cuts. A new effort follows suit by proposing a change to how the ‘poverty threshold’ is to be calculated, which will decrease the number of people eligible for important federal benefit programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. This would affect millions of extremely low-income individuals and families.

The current measurement called the “consumer price index (CPI)” has been used for a long time to set the annualized increases in the official poverty threshold. The administration is considering using what is known as “the chained CPI”, a different inflation measure that would result in a slower annual increase of inflation over time. “Chained CPI” assumes that as the prices of goods go up, individuals substitute less expensive items, thereby reducing their overall expenses. Why is this important? The proposed change would mean that millions of people would eventually see their benefits either reduced or eliminated because their income would not qualify at the same level as the current measure. Its impact lies in determining who qualifies for such benefits as Medicaid, SNAP and other critical assistance programs in future years.

There are several issues with this proposal. To start, the current measurement of poverty is already flawed because it is based on a 58-year-old analysis of 64-year-old data on food consumption, with no changes other than adjusting the poverty line for inflation. Slowing down the rate at which inflation is measured only puts low income Americans at greater risk. Instead of taking benefits away from individuals and families already struggling to meet their basic needs, there needs to be a real conversation about the actual costs associated with paying for necessities that go beyond food, housing and health care. Low income families face high rates of food insecurity, difficulty paying rent and utilities, and much lower rates of health insurance coverage. Cutting low income individuals and families from life saving and life sustaining services, when they are already struggling to survive, would further increase hardship without addressing the real needs of millions of low-income Americans. 

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, some of the consequences of the proposed measurement change to health care eligibility over ten years would be the following:

• More than 300,000 children would lose comprehensive coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as would some pregnant women. In addition, more than 250,000 adults who gained Medicaid coverage from the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) expansion would lose it.
• More than 150,000 consumers who buy coverage through the ACA marketplaces would lose eligibility for or qualify for reduced cost-sharing assistance, increasing their deductibles by hundreds or even thousands of dollars. 

The actions of the current administration have rightly been deemed “…an attack on the poor.” The proposals are counterproductive and empty of any true value. Pushing extremely low-income individuals out of desperately needed benefit programs must be halted and this ill-conceived action should be stopped before it begins.

This is how you can help. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is soliciting comments on these potential changes right now. Shrinking the poverty line of support simply denies people the assistance they need. It is critical that concerned individuals raise their voices in support of rejecting changes to regulations that can only hurt millions of our fellow Americans. The deadline to submit is June 21, 2019. You can submit your comments here.

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