PHOENIX — A massive number of Arizonans could lose their health care if the GOP’s Medicaid cuts become law, according to Gov. Katie Hobbs.
“Under the current plan, somewhere around 10 million Americans will lose health care coverage,” Hobbs told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos on Wednesday.
The Democrat spoke hours after Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of President Donald Trump’s massive bill full of various tax breaks.
“These Medicaid cuts will kill people, and there is not a state in the country, I don’t believe, that has the capacity to absorb these kind of cuts. Certainly, Arizona can’t,” Hobbs said. “We might be able to put some Band-aids for a little while, but we can’t absorb the impact.”
Arizona governor says GOP bill will lead to widespread Medicaid cuts
The legislation seeks to cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks by cutting spending to various federal services.
A significant portion of those cuts — $880 billion — will come from Medicaid, according to the Associated Press.
“It’s a lot of money and the state matches a much larger percent of what the federal government provides,” Hobbs said. “But it is not a hand out from the federal government. I want to remind people all of these cuts, these are Arizona tax dollars that we send to Washington, and they need to send it back to us for us to take care of our folks.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican, has said he hopes to send the bill to the U.S. Senate by Memorial Day.
“We haven’t digested the full impact of those details in Arizona, but it’s safe to say that hundreds of thousands of people stand to lose their health care,” Hobbs said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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