House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) reportedly delivered a message to his colleagues earlier this week, seeking their support for the American Health Care Act: This is who we are. This will define us.

It was one of the more accurate things hes said in a long time .

The AHCA would expose many millions of Americans, including some of societys most vulnerable members, to the possibility of crippling medical expenses forcing them to choose between financial hardship, medical hardship or both.

At the same time, it would lower taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans, to the tune of $594 billion over 10 years .

Insurance for millions, or tax cuts for millionaires that was one of the choices House Republicans faced on Thursday when they voted on the bill. And, with just a small handful of exceptions, they chose the latter.

A $1 trillion cut to programs for the poor and middle class

Overall, the AHCA would drain nearly $1 trillion out of federal health care programs, with most of the money coming straight from people who need it to get health care.

The biggest chunk would come out of Medicaid, a federal-state program that provides comprehensive insurance to people with incomes up to 133 percent of the poverty line, or $27,159 a year for a family of three. Its a massive cut one that would force most states to roll back expansions that allowed millions to get insurance, and then gradually ratchet down the programs funding even more.

The cuts would hit working-age adults hard, since they were among the groups Medicaid had historically excluded and, as a result, the group most likely to lose coverage if the AHCA were to become law. But the cuts would inevitably filter down to other groups, including the ones that the program has always targeted: children, elderly and the disabled .

One little-noticed provision would reduce funds that allow schools to cover health services for children who qualify for special education because of physical or mental impairments.

Yes, the AHCA would very literally take money away from disabled kids.