House Republicans are proposing hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts to Medicaid, a major flashpoint in negotiations that could make or break President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. See the story in the video aboveThe proposed cuts are part of a broader budget bill carrying the president’s priorities on tax reform, border security and energy policy. The details of the plan are coming into focus this week. Key committees are advancing their proposals after months of debate behind closed doors. “We now know that the Republicans lied when they said that they weren’t going to cut Medicaid. They are cutting Medicaid by a massive amount of money,” said Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, during a press conference on Wednesday.“Claims that our legislation cuts many millions of Americans out of Medicaid, it’s obviously demonstrably false,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson. The Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan scorekeeper on Capitol Hill, has yet to release an official analysis of spending cuts proposed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid. A preliminary estimate from CBO finds that the program changes, if enacted, would reduce the federal deficit by $625 billion and increase the number of uninsured Americans by 7.6 million by 2034. Republican lawmakers who support the proposal say they’re focused on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. “These are reforms to restore and preserve the system so that it doesn’t collapse on itself,” Speaker Johnson said. “That means ensuring illegal aliens don’t get coverage meant for Americans in need. It means implementing work requirements to ensure adults who can work but refuse to cannot keep cheating the system.” The legislation would set new eligibility criteria for certain Medicaid recipients. As a condition of receiving coverage, able-bodied adults without dependents would be required to complete at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service starting in January 2029. “We know that most adult enrollees on the Medicaid program are working or face some barrier to work,” said Robin Rudowitz, the director of KFF’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured. “We know from experience and other estimates that work requirements would lower federal spending, as we see in this analysis, and increase the number of uninsured, but do not necessarily increase employment.”Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said in an interview on Wednesday that, while he supports work requirements, he opposes other Medicaid changes in the House bill. “It also cuts provider support. I’m worried about rural hospitals in the state of Missouri. I’m worried that they’re going to increase taxes effectively on people who are trying to get access to health care. They propose to make people start paying co-pays who are working, poor people. I mean, this doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Hawley said. Skeptical Republicans like Hawley hold key votes that could prove decisive with narrow GOP majorities in both chambers of Congress. If the current House proposal passes, the Senate will still have a chance to make changes.
House Republicans are proposing hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts to Medicaid, a major flashpoint in negotiations that could make or break President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
See the story in the video above
The proposed cuts are part of a broader budget bill carrying the president’s priorities on tax reform, border security and energy policy.
The details of the plan are coming into focus this week. Key committees are advancing their proposals after months of debate behind closed doors.
“We now know that the Republicans lied when they said that they weren’t going to cut Medicaid. They are cutting Medicaid by a massive amount of money,” said Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, during a press conference on Wednesday.
“Claims that our legislation cuts many millions of Americans out of Medicaid, it’s obviously demonstrably false,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan scorekeeper on Capitol Hill, has yet to release an official analysis of spending cuts proposed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid. A preliminary estimate from CBO finds that the program changes, if enacted, would reduce the federal deficit by $625 billion and increase the number of uninsured Americans by 7.6 million by 2034.
Republican lawmakers who support the proposal say they’re focused on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.
“These are reforms to restore and preserve the system so that it doesn’t collapse on itself,” Speaker Johnson said. “That means ensuring illegal aliens don’t get coverage meant for Americans in need. It means implementing work requirements to ensure adults who can work but refuse to cannot keep cheating the system.”
The legislation would set new eligibility criteria for certain Medicaid recipients. As a condition of receiving coverage, able-bodied adults without dependents would be required to complete at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service starting in January 2029.
“We know that most adult enrollees on the Medicaid program are working or face some barrier to work,” said Robin Rudowitz, the director of KFF’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured. “We know from experience and other estimates that work requirements would lower federal spending, as we see in this analysis, and increase the number of uninsured, but do not necessarily increase employment.”
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said in an interview on Wednesday that, while he supports work requirements, he opposes other Medicaid changes in the House bill.
“It also cuts provider support. I’m worried about rural hospitals in the state of Missouri. I’m worried that they’re going to increase taxes effectively on people who are trying to get access to health care. They propose to make people start paying co-pays who are working, poor people. I mean, this doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Hawley said.
Skeptical Republicans like Hawley hold key votes that could prove decisive with narrow GOP majorities in both chambers of Congress. If the current House proposal passes, the Senate will still have a chance to make changes.
