Salem, Oregon – A new federal tax and spending package is likely to have a big effect on low-income Oregonians. Oregonians are concerned about how it will affect their access to food and healthcare.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed a bill into law that makes it necessary for people who get Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments to work. These programs help hundreds of thousands of people in Oregon, and many of them may soon be at risk of losing important support.
If you are between the ages of 18 and 64 and want to keep your Medicaid coverage, you will have to work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month. The Oregon Health Plan is the state’s Medicaid program. It helps over a million people right now. State authorities believe that about 40% of people who are enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan will now have to have their eligibility checked more often because of the federal law.
The Oregon Health Authority said that making these modifications might cost the state more than $100 million. Oregon might possibly lose billions of dollars in federal funds over the next ten years because of new rules about how state and local tax money can be used to pay for Medicaid. Officials think the losses might be more than $11 billion.
The measure will also make it harder for people to get SNAP, the federal food assistance program. This change might have an impact on the more than 750,000 Oregonians who get food stamps. More than half of them live in homes with children. Right now, the program helps low-wage workers, retirees, and individuals with disabilities get the food they need.
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Oregon Governor Tina Kotek strongly opposed the law, saying that the state doesn’t have the money to make up for the expected gaps in financing.
“Every dollar stripped from these services and put towards the top 1% is a moral failure,” Kotek said in a written statement.
The Biden administration previously argued that work requirements would make public benefits more efficient and encourage able-bodied adults to look for jobs. However, critics say that many people already work unstable or part-time jobs and could lose access to support because of red tape.
As Oregon gets ready to make the changes required by the federal government, state leaders and advocacy groups are getting ready for the effects on vulnerable groups. They are warning that the long-term effects might make inequity worse and put more burden on community resources.
