Earlier today, 120 leading patient organizations came together to express grave concerns about potential Senate actions on Medicaid. Together, the groups implored Senate leadership to protect the Medicaid program and oppose efforts to roll back Medicaid expansion or change Medicaid's funding in a way that would harm patients and consumers.

In a letter to both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the 120 organizations urged the Senators to:

• Defend Medicaid as a critical lifeline for patients and consumers with ongoing health care needs. For instance, Medicaid covers roughly one half of all births, including many high-risk pregnancies, and more than 6 million older adults rely on Medicaid to get the treatments they need.
• Reject efforts to convert Medicaid to a per capita cap or block grant system. Per capita caps and block grants would limit the ability of patients and consumers to access breakthrough treatments and constrain the program's ability to address emerging health threats, undermining Medicaid's role as a safety net for the most vulnerable Americans.
• Maintain Medicaid expansion. Because Medicaid is such a critical source of coverage for people with chronic diseases, eliminating Medicaid expansion at any point in time would make many of them more vulnerable to high medical costs.

Proposals to phase out Medicaid expansion and impose per capita caps, like those included in the American Health Care Act, would limit patients' access to care and threaten Medicaid's ability to provide critical coverage to the tens of millions of patients who rely on the program to get the care they need to live healthy, full lives.

Read the full text of the letter and complete list of signing organizations.