Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid in a congressional hearing on Tuesday.
“The math is not adding up. They’re trying to convince people that they are cutting millions of undocumented people from [Medicaid],” Ocasio-Cortez said. She noted that the GOP is claiming that one million undocumented immigrants are collecting Medicaid payments, but their cuts would result in 13.7 million people losing their health insurance.
“They’ve asked us to read this bill, and we have. This bill bans the people that they kick off of Medicaid from even buying their own insurance from the Affordable Care Act exchange,” Ocasio-Cortez continued, adding that the bill “increases costs for people they do deem eligible and who are low income and forces them to pay even more.”
Ocasio-Cortez noted that people on private insurance wouldn’t be escaping consequences either.
“And if you have a private insurer, don’t worry, you’re getting screwed over too. Because your health care premiums are going to skyrocket from the disaster that is happening from this bill,” the New York congresswoman added.
Ocasio-Cortez is correctly pointing out House Republicans’ budget plan will gut a social program that millions of Americans depend on, while also taking aim at the GOP boogeyman of Obamacare. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 8.6 million people will lose access to Medicaid, while millions more will lose health insurance by 2034 as other protections expire. Far from being a “big beautiful bill” as Trump claims, it will worsen the quality of life for Americans who don’t have any other health care options.
The bill also punishes single parents by making it harder to receive the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps, and gives President Trump unprecedented power over nonprofit organizations. The cuts to Medicaid in the bill already face opposition from within the Republican Party. Will Congress open its eyes to the rest of the issues in the bill and say no to the GOP and president’s cruel priorities?
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