After House Republicans shared a new budget proposal this week, some Democrats began sounding the alarm that Medicaid funding could be significantly impacted by proposed cuts.
Nearly 80 million Americans benefit from the government-run health insurance program, and budget cuts to the program could dramatically reduce access to health care for low-income families.
The Republican Party has been looking to pass spending cuts as a way to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which would add another $4.5 trillion in spending.
A prior adviser to the Biden-Harris White House has spread information online saying that the new budget resolution would slash Medicaid funding by at least $880 billion.
The Claim
Bobby Kogan, the senior director of Federal Budget Policy at American Progress who previously served in the Biden-Harris White House as adviser to the director of the Office of Management and Budget, shared his concerns about the Republicans‘ new budget resolution online.
Kogan said the budget would cut Medicaid funding by at least $880 billion in a widely shared post on X (formerly Twitter).
“For Energy and Commerce, it’s mathematically impossible to achieve $880 billion in savings if you don’t cut Medicaid or Medicare. There’s not enough money they have jurisdiction over,” Kogan wrote on the social media platform. “Republicans say they’re not cutting Medicare, so that means they’re cutting Medicaid.”
Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi retweeted Kogan’s claims, saying Medicaid would be on the chopping block.
“Republicans are putting Medicaid and SNAP on the chopping block in order to reward their billionaire donors and big corporations with tax breaks,” Pelosi wrote. “The American people cannot afford this extreme agenda.”
The Facts
The budget resolution does not ever explicitly state there will be an $880 billion cut to Medicaid.
House Republicans are enabling the Energy and Commerce Committee to decide what exact programs and areas would be cut under the budget. While the Energy and Commerce Committee oversees Medicaid funding, it also is in charge of energy and climate programs, the Federal Communications Commission, food and drug safety and several more programs.
All of those areas could also be on the chopping block to make up the budget cuts House Republicans are looking for in the new budget resolution.
The federal government spent nearly $1.5 trillion on health care in fiscal 2022, with Medicare taking up $747 billion and Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program costing $609 billion, according to the Tax Policy Center.
Due to these high costs, it could prove difficult to meet the budget’s proposed cuts without making changes to Medicaid. However, as the budget proposal currently stands, House Republicans are not calling for $880 billion in cuts specifically to Medicaid.
Altogether, the budget asks for $2 trillion less spending on mandatory programs. Medicaid currently makes up around 10 percent of all federal spending.
The Ruling
False. Despite Kogan’s assertion that House Republicans are looking to cut $880 billion from Medicaid, the budget resolution does not ever specifically outline cuts to Medicaid in that amount.
Instead, it proposes the cut target for the Energy and Commerce Committee to oversee across their many programs. While Medicaid takes up a bulk of that spending, the cuts could also be spread across energy and climate programs, the Federal Communications Commission, food and drug safety and more.
The House GOP’s budget resolution needs a majority vote to make it out of the Budget Committee before moving to the full House, where Republicans have a historically small majority of 218 to 215.
FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK
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