Washington, D.C. – Bread for the World today voiced its opposition to the Senate’s health care legislation, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA). Bread for the World believes this bill would increase hunger and poverty in the United States.
“The Senate version is no better than the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA),” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “Rolling back the Medicaid expansion at a slower rate still means that millions of vulnerable Americans will lose their health care coverage. Without health insurance, people must often choose between putting food on the table and receiving the medical care they need.”
The BCRA would end the Medicaid expansion and enact deeper, long-term cuts to the program. Medicaid currently insures about 74 million Americans.
“Any senator who supports this bill will be voting to take away health insurance from the elderly, people with disabilities, and children,” Beckmann said. “If senators are truly interested in making our health care system ‘better,’ they would draft a bill that ensures all Americans have the health care coverage they need. Clearly, the senators need to go back to the drawing board.”
Afghanistan would be considered likely to have high rates of hunger because at least two of the major causes of global hunger affect it—armed conflict and fragile governmental institutions.
Malnutrition is responsible for nearly half of all preventable deaths among children under 5. Every year, the world loses hundreds of thousands of young children and babies to hunger-related causes.
Bread for the World is calling on the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to build a better 1,000-Days infrastructure in the United States.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith.” These words from Colossians 2:6 remind us of the faith that is active in love for our neighbors.
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to respond to changes in need, making it well suited to respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition.
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.