Birthday Calls to Action: Medicaid/Husky, Medicare and Social Security

 

The 61 st anniversary of the passage of Medicare and Medicaid on July 30, and the upcoming 91 st anniversary of Social Security in August were marked in Connecticut with urgent calls to action.

The Connecticut Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA) gathered at the CSEA union hall in Hartford to celebrate both anniversaries. Speaking to the urgent need to stop MAGA Republicans from privatizing Social Security and devastating the lives of millions of retirees, disbled and children, Congressman John Larson called on Congress to “scrap the cap” and make top earners pay their share of Social Security taxes so the entire program remains solvent into the future.

A press conference at the state capitol organized by the Connecticut Citizens Action Group (CCAG) focused on the cruel cuts by the MAGA Republican Congress to Medicaid/HUSKY which covers one in four state residents in every single city and town.

More than 900,000 people who are on Medicaid/HUSKY in Connecticut, a third of whom are children, are threatened by new federal work requirements and eligibility changes in the cruel “Big Beautiful Bill.”

In October, both non-citizens and legal permanent residents who once qualified for HUSKY will no longer be covered. In January work requirements will be imposed on Medicaid recipients from 19 to 64 years old.

“Advocates, lawmakers, Governor Lamont, state leaders, we all need to work together with our state agencies to make sure families do not lose their healthcare,” declared State Rep. Jane Baribay, co-chair of the Aging Committee.

As a result of grassroots pressure and organizing last year, the Legislature and Governor allocated extra state funding to support Medicait/HUSKY, but now much more is required.

“The time has come to pressure leaders for universal health care,” said Tom Swan, executive director of CCAG.  “We’ve been close before, but what’s happening now proves it more than ever. We need universal healthcare. Let’s stop messing around.”

The state Department of Social Services (DSS) has created a “prescreener site” on their webpage enabling those receiving HUSKY to see if eligibility changes will affect them..