Senate Republicans are scheming for even bigger cuts to the Medicaid than were in the House version of Trumpcare. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the House bill would cut Medicaid by $834 billion – which directly contradicts Donald Trump’s campaign promise not to cut Medicaid – in order to provide new tax benefits for the wealthy.
American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates released the following statement after it was reported that the Senate Trumpcare proposal, which is being drafted behind closed doors in collaboration with undisclosed lobbyists, would make even more draconian cuts to Medicaid:
“Senate Republicans have been caught red-handed working in secret to make Trumpcare even more devastating to working families and the elderly, which explains why they’ve been fighting tooth and nail to shut out any sunlight from this process. Trumpcare would already cost millions their health insurance, cause health costs to skyrocket, gut coverage protections for Americans suffering from pre-existing conditions, and even kill jobs across the country – and now Senate Republicans want to make it even more painful to the working poor in order to cut taxes for the rich. That’s a recipe for disaster that the country can’t afford.”
BY PETER SULLIVAN – 06/19/17 10:34 AM EDT
A leading option in the Senate’s ObamaCare repeal debate is to make even deeper cuts to Medicaid spending than the bill passed by the House, according to lobbyists and aides.
The proposal would start out the growth rate for a new cap on Medicaid spending at the same levels as the House bill, but then drop to a lower growth rate that would cut spending more, known as CPI-U, starting in 2025, the sources said.
That proposal has been sent to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for analysis, a Senate GOP aide said.
The aide said that plan has been described as a “consensus option that has been sent to CBO,” though no final decision has been made yet. Another aide said there are still other options in the mix.
Democrats and some more moderate Republicans were already warning about Medicaid cuts in the House-passed bill, which reduces Medicaid spending by more than $800 billion over 10 years.
The CBO found that the House bill would cause 14 million fewer people to be enrolled in Medicaid over 10 years.
It is unclear whether moderates will go along with the deeper cuts.
Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), for example, said earlier this month that he did not want the growth rate to be any lower than the House bill’s. Heller is considered the most vulnerable GOP senator on the ballot in 2018.
More conservative senators, however, have been pushing for the lower growth rate as part of an effort to restrain Medicaid spending further.
A separate Medicaid issue — how quickly to phase out the funding for the expansion of the program — remains up in the air. Moderates have pushed for a seven-year phase out, while leadership has previously floated three years.
Published: Jun 19, 2017