Small towns and rural communities across Arkansas will lose a vital lifeline to health care if Congress follows through on its threat to pass deeply damaging, massive cuts to Medicaid. Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal and state governments. A loss of millions in federal funding would wreck Arkansas’s budget and health care system. 

Funding cuts would hurt us all, especially in rural communities the most where children, pregnant women, the disabled, and seniors in Arkansas are more likely to rely on Medicaid for health insurance. A new report by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) illustrates the essential role Medicaid plays in Arkansas small towns and rural communities. According to the report: 

• 51% of children in rural areas and small towns in Arkansas receive coverage through Medicaid/CHIP, compared to 45% in urban areas. 
• Among adults younger than 65, about 22% of those in Arkansas small towns and rural areas get their coverage through Medicaid/CHIP, compared to about 18% in urban areas. 
• Among seniors, 17% of those living in Arkansas small towns and rural areas were covered by Medicaid compared to 14% in urban areas. 

Rural communities in Arkansas, from the Ozarks to the Delta, already face challenges to getting health care. Provider shortages and hospital closures mean people in our small towns and rural settings can't get preventive care, manage chronic conditions, or reach hospitals in emergencies. Families must travel long distances to find care or go without care altogether. Addressing Arkansas’s high maternal death rate becomes even more difficult if maternal care deserts become even larger.  

Congress's funding cuts would force Arkansas to deny coverage and services to children, the disabled, and seniors to cut costs. Federal Medicaid funding cuts will affect more than Medicaid patients. The impact will ripple across our health systems, hospitals, providers, and local economies. Arkansas will lose funding for all health care, including doctors, specialists, mental health services, and nursing homes. 

There is simply no way for Arkansas to manage its way out of these massive funding losses. Congress must say no to wide-ranging cuts to Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the powerful and wealthy. We need all Arkansans to work together. We must find ways to balance fiscal responsibility with the health of all, especially in rural communities and small towns, the backbone of our state. 

Our leaders must take Medicaid funding cuts off the table.