Eleven million Medicaid recipients nationwide are now in danger of losing their health insurance, and Medicare is also expected to see major budget cuts, due to the recently passed federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). So what does all of this mean for Washtenaw County?
“It’s going to be a real exacerbation for people who rely on those resources to take care of themselves and their families,” says Alex Plum, executive director of the Corner Health Center in Ypsilanti.
OBBBA puts into federal law an idea long championed by conservatives: work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The law requires able-bodied Medicaid recipients ages 19-64 to work or perform community service at least 80 hours per month. Through that mechanism and other changes, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the bill will reduce federal Medicaid spending by $793 million over a decade.
“If the estimates of the number of people holds, that’s about 16,000 people in Washtenaw County that will lose Medicaid,” says Jeremy Lapedis, executive director at the Washtenaw Health Project and Washtenaw Health Plan. “We’re looking at uninsured rates that will go from 3% or 4% to 8% or 9%. …. We’re looking at a much less efficient Medicaid system.”
Doug CoombeJeremy Lapedis.…