Medicaid is a complex social safety net program that provides healthcare to over 79 million disabled and low-income adults and children. In Wisconsin, roughly 1 in 5 people were enrolled in these programs according to numbers from December of last year. 

Despite the reach and popularity of Medicaid programs, Congressional Republicans are drafting a federal budget proposal that would slash up to $2.3 trillion to Medicaid funding. These cuts could result in 20 million people being dropped from healthcare. To make sense of what these proposed cuts would mean to Wisconsinites, host Sara Gabler is joined by three guests, William Parke-Sutherland, the Government Affairs Director at Kids Forward, Lisa Hassenstab, the Public Policy Manager for Disability Rights Wisconsin, and Rene Eastman, the Senior Vice President of Policy and Finance for LeadingAge Wisconsin.

They talk about the open letter that 100 Wisconsin organizations sent to the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation asking that they protect Medicaid. Proposed cuts would have widespread impacts on people in the state, decreasing the quality of life and care for folks who are enrolled in Medicaid programs, have downstream effects on families and caregivers, and even decrease access to long term care for Medicare recipients. 

The SEIU has set up a phone line for folks to contact their representatives. And Kids Forward is proposing a plan for Wisconsin to protect healthcare and more. 

Rene Eastman is the Senior Vice President of Policy & Finance for LeadingAge Wisconsin, a trade association for aging services providers. LeadingAge Wisconsin represents over 400 nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Wisconsin. Rene is an accountant and an attorney with over a decade of experience working in healthcare policy.

Lisa Hassenstab has served as the Public Policy Manager for Disability Rights Wisconsin since July 2023. She has served primarily in public policy, advocacy, and leadership roles in the nonprofit field during her career, including with health and human services and early care and education organizations at the state and national levels.

William Parke-Sutherland is the Government Affairs Director at Kids Forward. He works to protect and expand access to affordable, quality health coverage and care–especially for those impacted by health disparities and in cycles of poverty. He also helps Kids Forward strategize paths to advance health equity in Wisconsin and move toward a system with universal access to health care for all.

Featured image via Disability Rights Wisconsin. 

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