This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Proposed Medicaid cuts will be devastating to Utah's children.

I called my congressman and senators recently — as a mother who cares deeply for all children. I first asked them to listen to my specific concerns about a bill that includes an $880 billion cut to Medicaid. (To put this in perspective, Medicaid funding would be as low as it was 50 years ago, even though health care costs have increased dramatically: from $147 per person in 1960 to $10,345 in 2016.)

Then I urged them to put Utahns, those whom they have sworn to represent, before their party and vote against such Medicaid cuts. Utah will be disproportionately affected because we have one of the fastest growing low-income aging populations in the U.S. Cutting the amount that our state allocates to Medicaid enrollees (71 percent of whom are children) and capping that lower amount will result in covering fewer people, and when a life-saving drug skyrockets in price, Medicaid will not be able to provide it.

Please contact your House representative and Sens. Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch. If I can do it, so can you. Tell them that you oppose such deep cuts to and per-person caps on Medicaid, which currently provides health care to 215,000 Utah children.

Therese J. Huhtala

Salt Lake City