ICYMI: Shaheen Completes Weeklong “Medicaid Impact Tour” to Highlight the Disastrous Impact of Proposed Cuts to Medicaid

(Washington, DC) - Last week, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) launched her “Medicaid Impact Tour”—a weeklong series of discussions across the Granite State to highlight the disastrous impact that Republican-led cuts to Medicaid would have on New Hampshire's health care system and working families, including by raising the cost of health care and leaving thousands uninsured. The tour included stops in Berlin, Laconia, Claremont and Concord for meetings with health care providers, activists and Medicaid beneficiaries. You can watch Shaheen’s tour recap video here and view front page coverage of the tour here. 

Shaheen’s tour comes as Congressional Republicans, led by President Trump and Elon Musk, work to advance legislation that will pave the way for steep cuts to Medicaid funding and would impact millions of people across the country. More than 180,000 people in New Hampshire use Medicaid for their insurance and half of those recipients are children. Under the Republican proposal, they will see significant changes to their coverage and more than 60,000 Granite Starters will be at risk of losing their coverage. This includes 7,600 patients that are currently receiving treatment for substance use disorders.  

More Below: 

Berlin Daily Sun: Shaheen hears from Medicaid recipients in Berlin 

• Some of those who will be most affected by possible cuts to Medicaid got to speak candidly with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) during a rural health roundtable at Northern Human Services in Berlin on Monday as Shaheen kicked off a weeklong “Medicaid Impact Tour.” 

• Getting the word out of how Medicaid and other bedrock social service programs impact people’s lives will come from the grassroots or ground up. It will be the first-hand experiences of New Hampshire residents who rely on these programs as part of meeting their daily needs that Shaheen will take back to Washington to advocate for keeping the programs fully funded. 

Laconia Daily Sun: Shaheen hears from those who rely on Medicaid in Laconia, where a third of residents are enrolled 

• Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) listened to local leaders, health care providers and voters during a Medicaid Impact Tour roundtable discussion at Partnership for Public Health in Laconia on Tuesday afternoon. 

• A consensus of nonprofit leaders at the table said much of their funding comes from Medicaid, and any reduction is likely to mean fewer services. 

Valley News: Proposed cuts to Medicaid worry Upper Valley health care providers, advocates 

• “Thinking about taking away health services people rely on for a tax break for the wealthiest Americans makes no sense,” U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said during a visit to Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont on Wednesday. 

• Without health insurance, residents would have to make decisions between putting food on the table and going to the doctor, Dr. Juliann Barrett, Valley Regional’s chief medical officer, pointed out during a roundtable discussion with Shaheen. “It would have a drastic impact on preventative services,” Barrett said. 

Eagle Times: Shaheen meets with health care officials to discuss potential Medicaid funding cuts 

• Medicaid cuts of nearly $900 million could be on the horizon, and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen has been meeting with health care officials this week to get first-hand accounts about what this would do to the services they provide patients. 

• She noted that statewide one in seven people, or about 180,000 people, are enrolled in Medicaid in some form. That number is even more staggering in Claremont at a third of the population. 

• “You talked about the uncertainty, and one of the challenges we have in Washington is uncertainty,” Shaheen said. “It’s been very hard to get information that was being planned, particularly around health care.” 

Concord Monitor: Trump’s cuts to federal funding draw concern from New Hampshire health advocates 

• On Thursday, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen met with public health leaders in Concord to address the effects of recent funding cuts on services in New Hampshire, criticizing the federal government’s decision to withdraw the funding without notice. 

• Shaheen said she plans to advocate strongly to her colleagues in Washington, D.C., about the real-world impact of these cuts on health care, providers and workers across New Hampshire. She added that confusion over the scope and consequences of the cuts isn’t limited to one side of the aisle. 

• “I think that was the goal, to keep people off balance, people uncertain, and it has a huge impact on morale, on the anxiety that people are feeling, not to mention the actual results at the fallout,” said Shaheen. “The only thing that’s going to change is when we are being able to build some coalitions with our Republican colleagues.” 

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