About 24% of Americans, or 80 million people, are insured through Medicaid, the nation’s safety net medical insurance program.
But data released Tuesday show that, in some congressional districts in the Southeast and Southwest, that number surpasses 30% — and in parts of Louisiana and California, it even jumps to 50% of residents, according to data collected by KFF, a nonprofit health-policy research, polling and news organization.
As U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville) presses for tax cuts, his colleague from across the aisle, Atlanta Democrat Nikema Williams, says a GOP-led resolution passed Tuesday to keep the government open and trim spending could ultimately impact 79,845 children and more than 25,000 seniors covered by Medicaid in her district.
The majority of Medicaid’s spending is on long-term and nursing home care for seniors, totaling $339 billion in 2021, KFF found. The program also insures 80% of children living below the poverty line, according to KFF.
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And that’s more or less how Medicaid works in Georgia, which insures 2 million Georgians, 12% of whom are children enrolled in Medicaid’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. Georgia seniors living in nursing homes are also a major recipient, with 72% of them covered by Medicaid, KFF said…