ICYMI: Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Will Be Devastating for Black Children Arrow

Key Point: "The looming cuts, advocates say, could limit resources in high-poverty schools, exacerbate maternal mortality rates and leave Black families without critical care. … Advocates say the cuts are part of a broader pattern of the American medical system inadequately serving Black patients."

POLITICO: Looming Medicaid cuts could hurt Black children, advocates warn

By Cheyanne M. Daniels

• 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.

• Medicaid - which is the fourth largest federal funding source for K-12 schools, according to a 2025 report by the School Superintendents Association - supports over $7.5 billion of school-based health services each year for low-income students, including screenings for learning disabilities.

• Thirty-seven percent of Black students attend high poverty schools, according to a 2023 analysis by National Center for Education Statistics.

• Through Medicaid, high poverty schools are also able to provide medical care. They can also provide insight into whether a student needs additional screening for a more accurate diagnosis.

• But one report from a coalition of education groups earlier this year found that the Medicaid cuts could force schools to reduce the number of school nurses, limit access to early intervention programs or impact funding for special education programs for those with learning disabilities.

• But if they do go into effect, they could also endanger Black babies and pregnant people, advocates warn.

• Medicaid covers nearly 65 percent of births to Black pregnant people, a 2023 study published by the National Institutes of Health found, and Black mothers and babies already face disproportionate health outcomes: the infant mortality rate for Black babies is more than two times higher than the rate for white babies, according to a 2022 review from the U.S. Health and Human Service's Office of Minority Health. They also have the highest rate of infant mortality than any other race.

• And cuts to Medicaid could harm outcomes for mothers and babies who are not enrolled in the program themselves, advocates argue. The federal program plays a vital role in supporting preterm babies who need special care or extended hospital stays. It also helps support research on how to avoid preterm births.