Protect affordable healthcare and food
Susie, in Torrington, used HUSKY to cover an emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder.
“Without HUSKY, I would be very, very sick right now because I wouldn’t have been able to have that surgery,” she said.
But with cruel federal cuts and changes threatening to take HUSKY away from more than 200,000 people in Connecticut, people like her could lose their access to life-saving healthcare and routine checkups that keep them healthy. Tens of thousands of people have already lost SNAP because of the federal government’s cuts and changes. Connecticut can’t sit back and watch as more people lose their food and healthcare.
Like many, many others, she’s urging state lawmakers to step in to protect HUSKY and SNAP.
“We, in Connecticut, need to protect the people in Connecticut - men, women, and children, especially the children,” she said. “They're innocent and don't understand what's happening, they just know that they're hungry and don't have food to eat … Connecticut needs to protect those who can't always protect themselves.”
People in Connecticut agree that more needs to be done to help people who use SNAP and HUSKY to pay for food and healthcare, according to a report from The Connecticut Project grantee DataHaven. Those people were surveyed before SNAP cuts went into effect.
When asked about SNAP:
When asked about HUSKY:
More than 900,000 people in our state had HUSKY last year. People use it to pay for annual check-ups, the birth of a baby, cancer treatments, and other care. Without it, moms, babies, children, seniors, and people with disabilities will be forced to choose between paying rent, buying groceries, and seeing the doctor when they’re sick. An investment in HUSKY is an investment in our people, economy, and the healthcare of everyone in the state.
In March, lawmakers heard from dozens of people about how HUSKY got them through hard times, and why it needs to be protected. Many also got loud for SNAP.
Donna, in Groton, used SNAP when her husband lost his job to keep her family bed.
“There would have been food for the kids, but not for us,” she said.
They also used HUSKY, which she called a “godsend,” during that time.
“It would have taken most of my check if I had to pay their healthcare,” she told us. “...Everyone deserves to be in the best health they can.”
SNAP used to help about 400,000 people in Connecticut pay for food. But new, unfair rules and budget cuts from the federal government have already taken it away from some families, and more than 50,000 people are at risk of losing it. In some towns, one in four people who use SNAP will be kicked off.
Connecticut residents can’t afford to wait to see what happens when even more people lose HUSKY and SNAP. Protecting access isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart decision for our economy, and widely supported by people in the state.
Take action to tell your lawmakers to protect HUSKY and SNAP.