Congressional leaders are claiming that the low-income provisions in the conference agreement on the budget reconciliation bill are modest and will not harm vulnerable families. Many of the legislation’s key provisions were altered behind closed doors in weekend negotiations, and the legislation was not released until after 1:00 Monday morning, just hours before House members had to vote on the legislation. Not surprisingly, there is considerable confusion over what the legislation actually does.
Careful examination of the 774-page legislation shows that the conference agreement would, in fact, cause considerable hardship among low-income families and individuals. The legislation contains cuts in various areas, including Medicaid, that would directly affect low-income families and individuals and are closer to provisions in the original House-passed reconciliation bill than to the provisions of the Senate bill. This is due in no small part to action by the conferees to shield certain powerful special interests — principally pharmaceutical companies and the managed care industry — and instead to extract sizable savings from low-income families.
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