President Donald Trump indicated in his first federal budget that his administration is committed to investing in programs that tackle mental illness, but the health care legislation he and Republican lawmakers are championing suggests otherwise.
House Republicans released the American Health Care Act earlier this month. It proposes slashing $880 billion to Medicaid, which is the largest payer of mental health services in the country, as well as removing the requirement that Medicaid plans cover mental health and phasing out the program’s expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has previously advocated for reducing federal funding of the program, too.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, the architect of AHCA, gushed this week about potentially cutting Medicaid funding.
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