Sue Dinsdale is the executive director of the Iowa Citizen Action Network, a grassroots public interest organization committed to creating social change in Iowa and across the nation. She is also the state lead for Health Care for America NOW.
Republicans in Congress have passed a federal budget resolution that instructs Congressional committees to slash trillions in services for everyday people in order to finance the extension of tax breaks that mainly benefit the wealthiest households. Some of the Trump tax cuts enacted in late 2017 expire this year. The top priority for Republicans in Congress is to extend those tax breaks, so the wealthiest 1 percent of households can continue to save on average $60,280 in 2026 alone.
But tax breaks for the wealthy cost the rest of us. When wealthy people and corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes, revenue is drained out of the budget which means lawmakers will have to cut services.
In this case, Medicaid is on the chopping block. That health insurance program serves more than 80 million people, about one in five Americans. The House-passed proposal includes $880 million in cuts for health care that could very well take coverage from the 678,107 enrolled in Iowa Medicaid.
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