Hi, this is Senator Chris Murphy calling. I'm teaming up with the group unrig. Our economy to host a live telephone town hall meeting this evening. Press two just to opt out. Of all future telephone town hall calls. All you have to do is just stay on the line. And you'll be automatically connected to this town hall. You have the opportunity to ask questions. To share your story. To vote in polls on your phone or you can just listen in what we're going to be talking about is how Republicans just passed a law that is going to cut programs that we rely on in our communities Medicaid nutrition benefits for millions of Americans just so they can give a tax break to their ultra wealthy friends and their corporate friends, so just stay on the line and you'll be connected to our forum. Now in progress. If you'd like to learn more or to get involved, you can visit. Unrig our economy. We can also be reached at 2270-1069 thanks a lot. You are joining a live conference already in progress. Please be aware that your local phone company may leave your line open for up to 32 seconds after you leave the conference, if you would like. To ask the speaker a question, please press zero. And. I don't know how to explain what they have done. They clearly have no idea what it is like. For a family or for an individual? To struggle with a serious illness or a developmental disability that robs from you the ability to work. Maybe. Let's just talk for a second about who the Medicaid population is. Across the country. It surprises people to know that actually one fourth of all Americans get their insurance from Medicaid. It's not called Medicaid. Everywhere in Connecticut, we call it the Husky program. But one quarter of Americans and american families get their health care for Medicaid. About two thirds of those people are working. Their people are working who just work for a company that doesn't provide them health care. Some of the biggest corporations in the world who employ people in America don't pay enough. For anybody to be able to afford health care. So two thirds of those folks are working, but then the other third are people like your brother, are people who have disabilities. Or illnesses that are so serious that they cannot be in the workforce. And so we've made a collective decision as a nation, it's the right decision. It's a moral decision. To say that we're just going to make sure that for people who are born with down syndrome. You don't die. Because you were born with that particular condition. And the only way we guarantee that is to make sure that folks like your brother have health. Care. Now, not everybody on the Medicaid program is going to lose their insurance because of this. Bill. So I can't say for certain that your brother is going to lose his health. Care. He may not, but what we know is that this bill cuts so much money out of the Medicaid program that states are going to have to change their eligibility. That means some people are going to have to lose their. Insurance or states are going to pass along more of the cost to folks who are already on Medicaid. So your brother may maintain his coverage, but he may end up having to pay. More, your family may have to end up paying more. And for a lot of families, There's no extra room in the budget to pay, especially. If you've been paying money out of pocket for decades. In the case of your family, I'm sure. For a family member with down syndrome. So. This is going to be devastating. Even if you maintain your health care. You may end up paying more. And for a lot of families. That's just not an option. Thank you, senator. And let's hear from Chikita Brooks. Ashore again, a former administrator. For CMS, the senators from Medicare and Medicaid services. Any thoughts here from you, Chikita on the story we've just heard. Yeah. Just thank you for sharing. Your story. And just to add to what. Senator Murphy just said. The way the bill is written. It's certainly not going to mean that every single person on Medicaid loses coverage. But what it does do. Is. It adds a lot of.