Medicaid Funding
Over 7,000 children are born in the U.S. every year with a cleft lip and/or palate, while 76,000 patients are served by ACPA Approved Teams annually. ACPA’s Approved Teams see a high quantity of patients per year who receive their health coverage from Medicaid. Proposed cuts and limits to Medicaid would offer significant challenges for families, and for professionals who care for patients with cleft and craniofacial conditions.
All changes under discussion to offset costs from “reconciliation” during this Congress would be devastating for kids. These changes come under many different names: per capita caps, block granting, work requirements, or roll backs of administrative gains. No matter what the name, they are all cuts to Medicaid and should be opposed.
Medicaid is a cost-effective way to cover children. Any cuts to Medicaid will force states to reduce or deny services and eligibility, negatively impacting the health and wellbeing of people, mainly children, with cleft lip, cleft palate, and/or other craniofacial differences. States simply cannot absorb the economic impact of Medicaid cuts. Cutting Medicaid costs will also have long-term consequences due to the mounting costs of uncompensated care and higher costs due to conditions that are not treated in a timely manner.
Use our letter template to tell your legislators to oppose any cuts to Medicaid. We encourage you to include your personal story and/or video within the letter.
NIH Funding
Research funding from the government has led to groundbreaking healthcare innovations for America’s children. It also pays dividends in our communities – each federal dollar invested in research generates more than $2 in local economic growth.
Abrupt changes to the structure of federal funding are short-sighted and will disrupt ongoing research. These sudden disruptions have serious consequences since they:
- Waste taxpayer dollars that have already been invested, not to mention money invested by philanthropy and industry;
- Jeopardize the development of new treatments; and,
- Place children’s long term health care at risk.
As part of our mission, ACPA supports cleft and craniofacial professionals and their patients through advancing research to optimize outcomes. Cuts to research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) present serious risks in the continuous advancement of cleft and craniofacial care.
Use our letter template to urge your legislators to protect federal funding for scientific research at the NIH. We encourage you to include your personal story and/or video within the letter.
