Guest Author
Medicaid doesn’t just support our public health. It also helps uphold public safety.
That is why, as former police chiefs, we are gravely concerned about the size and scope of Medicaid cuts in the bill the House of Representatives passed last month, and its companion currently being debated in the U.S Senate.
More than 4 million Floridians are enrolled in Medicaid. Make no mistake about it, Medicaid helps keep our communities safe in numerous ways.
Funding behavioral health programs and substance abuse treatment helps address underlying problems that can make individuals and communities more violent and prevent situations from spiraling out of control.
And by empowering patients and providers to diagnose and treat both physical and mental health concerns before they escalate, Medicaid reduces avoidable strain on first responders and on the health facilities that all citizens count on — including officers in the line of duty.
Untreated mental illness and substance abuse are significant, perennial challenges for communities nationwide. We know them well here in Florida. These challenges already exert a considerable burden on our communities, even with Medicaid’s assistance.
Major Medicaid cuts would put at-risk individuals back on the streets with even less support and even less treatment for their conditions. The burden on law enforcement would almost certainly increase, diverting precious resources that would otherwise go toward stopping significant threats to public safety.
Beyond helping to reduce 911 calls and emergency room visits, evidence shows that Medicaid even helps to reduce jail bookings and recidivism, especially during reentry from incarceration. By addressing some of the root causes of community violence and disruption, Medicaid coverage plays a role in halting crime before it begins. It helps stabilize individuals, families and entire neighborhoods within the community.
Medicaid also plays a key role in mitigating homelessness, another challenge that our frontline officers confront daily. Many homeless individuals are unable to escape the vicious cycle in part because they lack healthcare and cannot get treatment for their medical conditions, especially mental health issues.
Medicaid can allow homeless people to get treatment regardless of their ability to pay, which in some cases could make the difference between staying on the streets or breaking the cycle.
We also cannot forget the vital role Medicaid plays for our seniors in Florida. As one of the most popular retirement states in the U.S., nursing home residents make up the largest share of Medicaid enrollees. Medicaid covers long-term care services that, surprisingly, Medicare and private insurance often do not cover.
Medicaid cuts could result in fewer options for care, forcing seniors to flood already overburdened emergency rooms or, even worse, be displaced.
Cutting federal funding for Medicaid could create a devastating ripple effect, increasing the burden on our communities, families, and neighborhoods.
When people lose their Medicaid coverage, their problems don’t just disappear. Homelessness, community violence, and disruptions will increase. So too will the burden on law enforcement and emergency responders.
As the former Police Chiefs for the Cities of Miami and Hialeah with over 65 years of collective law enforcement experience, we can attest to Medicaid’s importance for our communities and the extent to which it has supported our work in law enforcement.
Florida’s U.S. Senators, and the rest of the Senate for that matter, should consider not only the public health concerns of reducing Medicaid, but the dangerous public safety consequences as well.
This program needs to be strengthened, not cut, if we want to continue making our cities as safe and healthy as they can be.
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Jorge Colina is the retired Chief of Police of the Miami Police Department; Orlando Aguilera is the retired Deputy Chief of the Hialeah Police Department.
