The U.S. public health insurance program is facing existential threats
By Carmel Shachar and MaryBeth Musumeci. Originally published on Stat News on January 16. 2025.
There is every indication that incoming President Trump and congressional leadership will look to slash federal health care spending — primarily Medicaid — to pay for tax cuts for wealthy Americans. House Republicans recently released a list that proposes $2.3 trillion in Medicaid spending cuts. Many of these proposals aim at changing Medicaid’s fundamental financing structure from an entitlement to a welfare program. This change would be almost impossible to undo and comes without any viable replacement.
Shredding the Medicaid safety net that supports one in five poor and disabled Americans will adversely affect millions— such as a low-income person with a high-risk pregnancy who must cut back work hours, a senior unable to afford long-term nursing home or home health care, an adult with intellectual disabilities who relies on daily supports in a group home, and parents caring for a child born with multiple complex medical needs.
House Republicans characterize these proposals as “making Medicaid work for the most vulnerable,” but in truth they will decimate Medicaid and leave millions of poor and disabled people without access to meaningful affordable health care coverage.
Read the full article.
