Pappas Leads Amendments to Protect Granite Staters’ Access to Health Care and Food Assistance

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) filed two amendments to the Senate-passed Republican reconciliation bill to protect Granite Staters’ access to Medicaid and food assistance and prevent Congress from passing the burden of cuts to these programs onto the state.

“This bill is a betrayal of working families, and it is also a betrayal of states like New Hampshire that will be forced to shoulder the burden of increased costs being passed on to them by Congress – all in the name of another tax break for the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations,” said Congressman Chris Pappas. “Just yesterday I met with providers who shared how these Medicaid provisions in particular will rip health care coverage away from more Granite Staters, strain resources at our clinics and hospitals, and destabilize our state’s health care system. Families struggling to make ends meet deserve better than to have their access to care and healthy nutrition ripped away. While I continue fighting to stop this bill, these amendments would protect access to health care and food assistance for families nationwide, and I urge my colleagues on the Rules Committee to support them.”

Pappas’s first amendment would strike new limitations that will severely restrict the amount of funding states can direct toward Medicaid, which creates significant budget gaps for Medicaid and kicks people off their health insurance. This amendment would help providers keep their doors open and protect Granite Staters’ access to care.

Pappas’s second amendment would strike from the bill provisions that create cost-sharing requirements for states for SNAP, requiring states to cover a portion of SNAP benefits and potentially cut benefits. This amendment would protect Granite Staters’ access to school meals and food assistance and prevent increased costs from being passed on to the state by Congress.