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Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans have introduced a bill to raise the debt ceiling that includes a wide variety of cuts, with the most devastating cuts to social safety net programs disguised as “work requirements.” This shows how the GOP agenda is primarily designed to reduce the leverage of workers against exploitation of employers, by changing market dynamics so that workers are forced to obtain and remain in jobs being paid far less than they’re worth and being treated unethically, at the threat of losing their healthcare and food. This puts employees at a massive disadvantage in negotiations with employers, as they know that workers will lose their Medicaid health insurance or be unable to obtain it as a replacement for lost employer health coverage if they quit or are fired, which is not the case now.
The most egregious portion of the bill is work requirements for Medicaid, which has never had work requirements prior to a few states under Trump, which were overturned by courts (save for one state), would result in many becoming uninsured and unable to access life-saving healthcare. The American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, and many other respected health advocacy nonprofits oppose work requirements as they do not increase employment and are more about “paperwork” than work, and are just designed to make people who qualify fall through the cracks and lose health coverage. However, there are also expansions to SNAP (food stamps) work requirements that would make things more difficult for older Americans and those in high unemployment areas.
Apologies for any audio issues, there was a point that got cut off in the middle very briefly.
References:
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/04/19/politics/mccarthy-debt-limit-bill/index.html
https://www.lung.org/media/press-releases/2023-medicaid-work-requirements-statement
https://www.heart.org/-/media/Files/About-Us/Policy-Research/Fact-Sheets/Access-to-Care/Medicaid-and-CVD-Fact-Sheet.pdf
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/toxic-workplaces-are-bad-for-your-physical-health-surgeon-general/
Full text of the “Limit, Save, Grow Act” here: https://www.speaker.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/LSGA_xml.pdf
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