U.S. Rep. Richard Neal sits in with Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle and representatives from Riverside Industries and discusses how important Medicaid funding is to their services.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis
EASTHAMPTON — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield) visited Riverside Industries on March 18 to discuss the impact of proposed Medicaid cuts on the First Congressional District.
A nonprofit organization in Easthampton, Riverside Industries provides individualized services for adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Western Massachusetts. Many of Riverside’s clients rely on Medicaid to receive coverages for these services.
The nonprofit has provided services for nearly 60 years, caring for 200 people in the region. Discussions of Medicaid cuts at the national level have raised concerns for the future of both clients and employees of organizations like Riverside.
“This is the reality of Medicaid and Medicare. Well beyond advocacy, this is how people live,” Neal said. “You ask, what is the alternative? So, the Congressional Budget Office has come back and said that the proposed $850 billion cut from the Energy Committee can’t happen unless they cut Medicaid and Medicare. Seventy-three million Americans derive a Medicaid benefit. It’s transformative. When Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicaid act in 1965, he knew just what he was doing.”
Medicaid is only one of the programs that could potentially lose massive funding, but it’s one residents of Riverside Industries heavily relies on. The House recently passed a new budget that would cut $880 billion from the Energy and Commerce Committee over the next 10 years.
Neal said these proposed cuts would have devastating impacts on an organization like Riverside who rely on Medicaid to help support their work. Neal noted $0.56 on the Medicaid dollar goes toward long-term care like what Riverside offers.
“Here, Riverside, you can see the good,” Neal said. “I don’t know what the options are in alternatives for what Medicaid and Medicare do here. This decision to close Social Security offices is ill considered.”
The proposal is part of a $2 trillion spending cut that also involved the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education. The budget also allows for a $4.5 trillion increase in tax breaks.
Neal called the proposed cuts “unwarranted and unwise” and that the current administration was being misleading in their claims of exposing excess waste by the federal government as they try and eliminate crucial benefit services.
“Nobody’s going to stand for cuts to veteran’s services. Certainly, I’m not going to cut 10 cents from Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare, all for a tax cut? For people who don’t need it?” Neal said. “Look at the distribution tables. That’s the key in the tax world. People can say, ‘well everybody gets a tax cut,’ and then you take a look and contrast what those at the top are going to get, and what those at the bottom are going to get, its hundreds of thousands of dollars in between. So, I just hope when we have this discussion that we remind people that what we’re witnessing here today at Riverside, this is the result of their tax dollars right here.”
Neal noted if these cuts were made, the impacts would be devastating for families relying on support for organizations like Riverside. He added the aggressive approach by the current administration has shown their disregard for the checks and balances that are part of the country’s foundational democracy.
“Most of these initiatives, they’re established by law, and the problem we have is there are not enough Republicans in Congress who are really willing to challenge the President’s decision making. He doesn’t get to do this on his own. Members of Congress don’t serve under presidents of the United States — it’s as simple as that. It’s the equation. So again, I think the reminder here is, tell me the reality of the alternative without having the services we’re witnessing here today.”
Neal added, “[The president] is already trying to sidestep Congress. He wants a compliant Congress. That’s not the member’s job. Their job is to challenge. I questioned Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. We didn’t have to fall in line to everything that they said,” Neal shared. “The best part of the news cycle today is the chief justice criticizing him. He now wants to impose his will on the Congress of the United States and the judiciary? Who is left in our system of checks and balance to check and balance?”
