Those Medicaid Cuts We've Been Hearing About Are Starting to Come Into View - Slate

[justaprogressive]

At long last, the time has come for House Republicans to answer the $880 billion question. That’s the amount in cuts that the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, must find to help cover the cost of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” comprising his legislative agenda.

For months, as Republicans in the House and Senate negotiated “blueprints” and “frameworks” ahead of the actual bill-writing process, they punted on exactly which changes they’d make to Medicaid. It’s a delicate subject. It puts House Republican factions at loggerheads, as spending hawks insist on substantial cuts to the health coverage program for the poor and needy, while swing seat members worry that such cuts will cost them their seats. And Democrats have been preparing since Election Day 2024 to obliterate Republicans for slashing Medicaid while giving tax cuts to the rich.

But they can’t dance around the question any longer. And although the Energy and Commerce Committee hasn’t yet released a draft of its portion of the legislation, or even made its final decisions, the envisioned cuts are coming into view. And the target is, unmistakably, the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, which provides health coverage to 20 million people.

“Traditional” Medicaid focuses primarily on covering the most vulnerable low-income populations, like children, parents, caregivers, pregnant women, and disabled people. The cost is split between the federal government and states, and there’s a formula, based largely on states’ per capita income, to determine the feds’ share of the bill. It varies roughly from 50 and 75 percent, again, for traditional Medicaid.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/04/medicaid-cuts-republicans-trump-budget-bill.html

[elocs]

1. I am a retired senior who is also on Medicaid because I am poor.

Medicaid cuts will hurt millions of people who identify as Republicans and have voted for Republicans. They need to make it clear to their Republican representatives that they will no longer vote for them if they vote to cut Medicaid.
Surely, there are enough Republican Reps in swing districts who should fear losing their seats if they vote to cut Medicaid.

[BeerBarrelPolka]

2. I'm

I'm sorry to feel that no matter what, they will still never vote for democrats. It's beyond blind hatred that they have for us.

[elocs]

5. Some will and in close districts it won't take many. Some may simply not vote for the Republican

which is second best to voting for the Democrat. Republican Reps need to be more afraid of their constituents than they are of Trump.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. Great point

I don't think people realize how many seniors use Medicaid. My mother is going into a permanent nursing facility, she will be using Medicaid to pay for it. And she's not poor, Medicaid pays for most peoples long term elder care, you cannot afford a facility without Medicaid unless you are seriously rich. Those places cost $8000 a month at a minimum, your social security and pension is not covering that for 95% of people. They're talking about cuts to something most of us will need.

[elocs]

4. My mother spent the last 15 years of her life dying by inches from Alzheimers in a nursing home.

It ate up her home in months and then Medicaid took over.

[Johnny2X2X]

6. I don't think this is discussed enough

Elder care in general, planning for what happens if you become infirm at the end of your life.

Cuts to Medicaid could be a disaster for millions of elderly people, even people who have good retirements and some of their next egg left over when they get to 80 don't realize that the money and assets they have are exhausted in nothing flat once they start paying for a facility. You can burn through everything in less than a year and then you're just like everyone else, on Medicaid.

The only people that don't have to worry about it are people whose net worth exceeds $10M or more when they retire. Anything less than that and you're at risk. That's such a small portion of people.