HONOLULU (KHON2) — Congress continues to discuss possible cuts to Medicaid and many in Hawaii are concerned about the potential impacts. Some officials warn pregnant women and children could be hit the hardest. Those who rely on the service for themselves and their children also fear the worst.
On Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires rip through the Lahaina community forcing thousands to flee. Mairey Garcia, then 10 weeks pregnant with her second child, made it out alive with her husband and daughter.
“We live in Maui, for almost 16 years,” she said. “Thinking and looking back after the fire, I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
They lost everything. Uprooting her family and relocating after the devastation on Maui she dealt with so many stressors and the added responsibility of another baby on the way.
Garcia said having Aloha Care medical coverage was a huge weight off her shoulders.
“It’s the only thing I have that time to support my babies and my family as well, because I can’t afford to get a medical,” she explained.
On Feb. 23, 2024 she gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
“Aloha Care has been there for me from the very start. It’s been a blessing for me,” Garcia said.
She is not alone. According to Aloha Care CEO Francoise Culley-Trotman, 1,500 moms delivered babies last year covered by Aloha Care. With 70,000 members it’s the states second largest medicaid-medicare health plan.
But if a bill to cut more than $600 billion in funding for Medicaid passes congress in the coming weeks, many will lose that lifeline.
“The Republican tax bill makes the biggest cuts to Medicaid in history, meaning many people on Med-QUEST will lose coverage and hospitals and clinics may be forced to reduce services or close altogether,” U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said in a statement. “These cuts will disproportionately impact pregnant women and children.”
“This issue goes beyond just our membership or even the Quest recipients to what happens to our state and our ability to take care of people,” Culley-Trotman explained.
She said cuts this extreme will increase preterm births and impact the long term health of mothers.
“Just an overall worsening of maternal and infant statistics in our state,” she added.
For Garcia, it’s personal. She worries about what will happen to her family and had this message for lawmakers.
“Please don’t pass the bill,” she said. “Because a lot of people need help and and rely on this program.”