Advocates are warning the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law will disproportionately harm Black women and children who depend on the program, worsening already disparate health outcomes among Black Americans.

Although Black people represent about 14 percent of the U.S. population, they account for more than 20 percent of Medicaid enrollees, according to Pew Research Center — and almost 60 percent of all Black children are enrolled in Medicaid, according to a recent analysis from the NAACP and other advocacy organizations.

The looming cuts, advocates say, could limit resources in high poverty schools, exacerbate maternal mortality rates and leave Black families without critical care.

“States right now are having to make decisions on what services they’re going to cut … and their allocation of funding toward this population,” said Patrice Willoughby, chief of policy and legislative affairs for the NAACP. “It is unconscionable that Congress would leave American children, which are the future of the country, without the supports that they need and the interventions that they need to contribute meaningfully to develop to their fullest potential.”

The impact on services to Black children in particular, she added, could have long-term negative effects throughout their entire lives.

By: Cheyanne M. Daniels

August 19, 2025

Read the full story here: Politico

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