April Tardiff puts socks on her son, Grayson, 3, at their home in Old Orchard Beach on Tuesday. Tardiff spoke at a roundtable with Rep. Chellie Pingree about how cuts to Medicaid would affect her family. Tardiff and her husband purchase their insurance for hundreds of dollars a month, but Grayson, who has high needs and attends occupational therapy, is covered by MaineCare/Medicaid. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

April Tardiff’s 3-year-old son, Grayson, receives speech and occupational therapy to treat his attention deficit disorder. Both are covered by Medicaid.

She doesn’t know what she’d do if cuts to the federally subsidized health care program disrupted those services.

Tardiff, 39, of Old Orchard Beach, was one of several people who spoke during a roundtable discussion hosted Tuesday in Portland by Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District. The discussion highlighted the threats to health care services by a funding bill that passed the House that appears to take aim at Medicaid. While the bill doesn’t specifically identify Medicaid cuts, it carves out $880 billion in savings — about 10% of the federal Medicaid budget — that national health policy experts are saying will likely come from Medicaid.

No details have been unveiled, and it’s unclear whether the House bill’s potential cutbacks would survive Senate scrutiny. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has opposed Medicaid reductions, but Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and could lose a few votes from moderate Republicans like Collins and still muscle through a budget bill. President Donald Trump also has backed the House bill.

Pingree said such cutbacks to Medicaid would be devastating for Maine, causing everything from closures of rural hospitals and nursing homes to leaving people uninsured and without services. Even dental care would be threatened.

“These would be cuts to vital services that impact people’s lives,” Pingree said.

Republicans have countered that they are looking to trim waste and fraud from the Medicaid budget. But nonpartisan health policy experts, including KFF, have said that there’s no way to cut that deeply without curtailing services.

In Maine, about 400,000 people have Medicaid coverage, or about 29% of the state’s 1.4 million population. Nationally, about 1 in 5 people has Medicaid.

Rep. Chellie Pingree hosts a roundtable discussion in Portland on Tuesday with health care providers and community advocates about the potential cuts in Medicaid funding if the U.S. House budget is adopted. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Tardiff, who volunteers for the Maine Equal Justice progressive advocacy group, said her family has employer-based coverage, but her son qualifies for Medicaid, called MaineCare in the state. Medicaid has stricter eligibility standards for adults compared to children, so in some families, the children qualify for Medicaid, but the parents do not.

Her son has been kicked out of two day cares for his behavior, and Tardiff said the speech therapy and occupational therapy helps with his ability to communicate and to transition between what he’s doing, as well as his ability to focus.

“We are trying to get a handle on this now, so when he goes to school, he’ll be able to transition from art class to music class to gym,” she said.

Tardiff said her employer-based insurance is bare bones, and she and her husband have to pay a lot out of pocket. Without MaineCare, they wouldn’t be able to afford the therapy her son is getting.

Others who spoke at the roundtable Tuesday also said any cuts would be detrimental.

Tom Doherty, executive director of Portland-based Milestone Recovery, which helps people with substance use disorder, said all of their patients are either uninsured or have Medicaid.

“Medicaid is essential for us to survive,” he said. “I don’t know what we would do if Medicaid were cut substantially.”

Even under current funding, Maine struggles to pay for the program. Medicaid’s growing costs have resulted in the Maine Legislature having to pass a $121 million supplemental budget, largely to cover a $118 million shortfall in the Medicaid budget.

Medicaid is a federal program that provides insurance for lower-income people. It’s operated by the states and funded with a blend of federal and state dollars.

Dr. Booth Dargis, a primary care physician at MaineHealth Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, said that even though MaineHealth is a large organization, significant funding cuts to Medicaid “would not be sustainable.” Dargis said he knows of several patients who would not be alive or would have a much worse quality of life if not for the help they received through Medicaid.

Carter Friend, CEO of York County Community Action Corp., which operates the Springvale community health clinic Nasson Health Care, said large Medicaid cuts would harm community health clinics across Maine.

“There would be workforce cuts, reductions in services and closures,” he said.