Should our country’s ultrawealthy and corporations receive additional tax cuts at the expense of healthcare for the neediest Americans?

The Trump administration and congressional Republicans have decided that one of their top legislative priorities is keeping taxes as low as possible for corporations and the wealthiest households by extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

In addition to adding $4.6 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, extending the TCJA would give the top 1% of households an average tax cut of over $48,000 in 2026, while the bottom 60% of households would receive just $500 on average.

To pay for these additional tax cuts, the budget resolution passed by the Republican controlled House of Representatives calls for total government spending cuts of $2 billion, with at least $880 million to come from reductions to Medicaid which provides health insurance for children (CHIP) and low-income Americans.

The Economic Policy Institute has calculated that the Republican proposal would reduce the real incomes for the poorest one-fifth of families in Pennsylvania by almost 8%. Real incomes for the second-poorest fifth would decrease by 1.8% while the top 1% of households (which do not rely on Medicaid) would see a gain of about 4%.

The Center for American Progress estimates that about 56,000 enrollees in the 15th Congressional District (represented by Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson) and 47,000 in the 9th district (represented by Dan Meuser) would lose healthcare under this proposal which was supported by both congressmen. This represents almost one-third of the eligible Medicaid and CHIP recipients in those districts.

DAVID B. KYLE

New Columbia

Submitted by email