A U.S. House of Representatives budget resolution that’s currently being considered proposes more than a trillion dollars in funding cuts for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - formerly known as food stamps. But a study released this week by the Commonwealth Fund shows that if passed, these cuts could trigger major job losses in Missouri and nationwide.
Medicaid and SNAP are federal programs that distribute billions of dollars in reimbursements to the entire country. The study estimates state and local governments across the country would lose nearly $9 billion in tax revenues, and more than one million jobs could be lost nationwide if the cuts are approved.
Dr. Leighton Ku is the lead researcher on the study and a professor of health policy at George Washington University. He said the cuts would have wide impacts in Missouri - especially in the government and healthcare sectors.
“For Missouri, our estimates suggest that if the cuts occur, we think around 24,000 jobs would disappear next year. So, you know that's a lot of people losing work. In general, we find that the state economy overall in Missouri, we'll lose about $2.4 billion,” Ku said.
Though SNAP and Medicaid are programs designed to provide access to nutrition and healthcare for low-income people, the direct recipients of the funding are the businesses, agencies and organizations that are actually providing the services - local and state governments, grocery stores, healthcare facilities, and other organizations who provide services.
Ku said this means cuts to Medicaid and SNAP won’t just impact the people who use the programs - the economy will feel it too.
“Hospitals, doctors offices, grocery stores [will lose] money, essentially speaking. And because of that, they can't hire as many people. They have to sort of lay off some staff. In addition, they can't buy things - grocery stores need to go buy food from wholesalers and food producers. Hospitals need to buy medical equipment, pay for their rent and medications. So there, there are losses that trickle throughout the economy,” Ku said.
But Ku said this doesn’t mean low-income families and others who use programs like Medicaid and SNAP won’t be affected - less money means less ability to provide services. Congress has yet to approve the final budget cuts and has until September 30 to make a final decision.
