Special to The Truth<\/p>\n
Among the many implications of the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act,\u201d signed into law this past July 4, are cuts to health and nutrition benefits for millions of Americans, which could have significant negative implications for babies and children, according to the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers (NCIT).<\/p>\n
\u201cThis far-reaching legislation will have effects on every aspect of American society — from schools to businesses to hospitals to food pantries,\u201d says Sadaf Knight, CEO, Florida Policy Institute. \u201cMost babies born this year will lose thousands of dollars over their lifetimes due to these combined factors, and the impact will grow for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to experts at the NCIT, along with other advocates and analysts, here are some of the act\u2019s expected impacts on the nation\u2019s youngest and most vulnerable:<\/p>\n
Families with babies will lose ground: The act\u2019s tax credits are designed to benefit those who are more affluent, say experts, and many families will see a net loss as a result. Overall, the resource gap will widen between the 36 percent of babies and toddlers living in families with low income and those in more affluent families, according to the bipartisan First Focus on Children advocacy organization.<\/p>\n
Household budgets will be reduced: According to the Congressional Budget Office, cuts to Medicaid will cause as many as 10 million people to lose their health insurance by 2034. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will put more than seven million at risk of losing their benefits. Because eligibility for services is often linked, families are also at risk of losing their Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits and their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. These programs can provide a foundation for households to thrive. Their losses will adversely impact overall household finances, caregiver and baby health, and parents\u2019 ability to provide the best possible care.<\/p>\n
Economic fall-out could mean cuts to services: Provisions requiring increased state cost-sharing for SNAP, combined with restricted financing measures for Medicaid, will leave a state budget gap of over $440 billion over 10 years. Further economic fall-out might amount to hundreds of billions of dollars in losses for states. The pressure to balance state budgets could mean dropping optional Medicaid services, reducing or eliminating state participation in SNAP, or cutting other early childhood services, such as early care and learning.<\/p>\n
To learn more about how public policy is impacting American families, and to access tools to become an advocate for infants and toddlers, visit ncit.org\/take-action.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen babies lose access to health care, nutrition, and other essential supports, the cost is carried by all of us. These services aren\u2019t luxuries. If we want our communities and our economy to thrive, we have to make sure that every baby has what they need in their earliest years,\u201d says Biz Harris, executive director of the Mississippi Early Learning Alliance.<\/p>\n
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Courtesy StatePoint<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Special to The Truth Among the many implications of the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act,\u201d signed into law this past July 4, are cuts to health and nutrition benefits for millions of Americans, which could have significant negative implications for babies and children, according to the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers (NCIT). \u201cThis far-reaching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[313],"class_list":["post-17315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17316,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17315\/revisions\/17316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17315"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=17315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}