GOP Unveils Sweeping, Brutal Medicaid Cuts

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

On Sunday, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) released budget reconciliation text that outlined extensive cuts to Medicaid planned by the Republican Party—which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office promptly estimated “would reduce the number of people with health insurance by at least 8.6 million” nationwide.

At least $715 billion would be cut from health programs, according to the CBO analysis, but it is unclear how much would be cut directly from Medicaid. Optional services under Medicaid—including physical therapy, hospice, and respiratory care for people on ventilators—would likely face cuts in many states.

“This bill confirms what we’ve been saying all along, Trump and Republicans have been lying when they claim they aren’t going to cut Medicaid and take away people’s health care,” Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a press release Sunday. “Let’s be clear, Republican leadership released this bill under cover of night because they don’t want people to know their true intentions.”