«SPOKANE, WASH- Washington Senator Maria Cantwell (D) will be in Spokane to talk with healthcare providers and patients over potential Medicaid and Medicare cuts.
The senator released a snapshot of what she potential cuts could look like, and while Republicans are adamant cuts to these programs would not take place—the senators released report indicates that the state is receiving over $12.5 billion in federal funding for Medicaid and the impacts could be massive.
The senator then listened members of the community at the round table about how cuts would impact them.
Julie Sparkman, mother and home care provider (SEIU)- talked about a crash that sent her grandson to the hospital. She says without Medicaid things could have been different. «Medicaid works,» Sparkman said, «we spent decades building this.» She has concerns that without rural hospitals beds will go away that could save more lives.»