Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” could leave millions without medical care thanks to proposed Medicaid cuts.
House Republicans released their proposed budget Sunday night, and it includes $880 million in cuts, largely to Medicaid, to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s estimates, the Medicaid cuts would leave 8.6 million people without health care over the next decade.
The cuts would come primarily due to work requirements—a minimum of 80 hours per month for able-bodied adults—as well as a requirement to verify eligibility twice a year, rather than once.
The move is sure to set off conflict in the House, even among the GOP. Several Republicans in the House have reportedly told Speaker Mike Johnson that they would not support cuts to programs that their constituents depend on, putting the bill in jeopardy. Democrats say that it’s yet another attempt for the GOP to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“In no uncertain terms, millions of Americans will lose their health care coverage,” said Democratic Representative Frank Pallone, the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which controls health care spending. In his words, “hospitals will close, seniors will not be able to access the care they need, and premiums will rise for millions of people if this bill passes.”
Republicans have been telegraphing cuts to the program for weeks, if not months, behind the scenes. Low-income Americans, many of them in the rural areas where Trump’s support is strongest, stand to suffer the most from such cuts.
The bill isn’t the only threat to Medicaid—Republicans are also touting a plan to return much of the health care costs from the program to the states. Such an idea, as laid out by Representative Austin Scott last month, would also leave millions without health care in states that choose not to pick up the slack. If the GOP gets its way, the lives of millions of Americans will be at risk.
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