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CNN
2 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Republican plans to overhaul Medicaid are already shaking up the 2026 midterms
Senate Republicans have yet to finalize their version of President Donald Trump's sweeping domestic policy proposal, but GOP lawmakers up for reelection in 2026 are bracing for the political impact of the bill's Medicaid cuts. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is pushing for a provider relief fund. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has warned GOP leaders about how many in his state could lose care. And Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has picked up a crop of Democratic challengers campaigning off her 'Well, we all are going to die' response to a town hall protester. Tens of thousands of people could lose coverage in each of those three senators' states, according to a KFF analysis on the version of the bill passed by the Republican-led House last month. Beleaguered Democrats, meanwhile, hope that laser-focusing on health care will help them chip away at the Republicans' 53-seat Senate majority and take back the House. A key part of Democratic messaging has been to tie the Medicaid cuts, which would largely affect low-income Americans, to tax breaks for the wealthy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the changes would reduce federal Medicaid spending by roughly $800 billion over 10 years, largely by instituting work requirements for certain adults eligible for Medicaid and postponing a Biden administration rule intended to simplify enrolling and renewing coverage. 'It is crazy politics for them to do this,' said Brad Woodhouse, a longtime Democratic operative and executive director of Protect Our Care, a health care advocacy group that launched a $10 million campaign this year to oppose Medicaid cuts. 'Everyone is going to be unhappy with this bill, unless you're a very high net worth individual: a millionaire, a multi-millionaire, a billionaire, or a large corporation.' Many Republicans have argued that the cuts to Medicaid are meant to sustain the program for those who need it most. They're also betting that the rest of the bill will be more popular. Paul Shumaker, a longtime North Carolina GOP strategist who advises Tillis and other Republican leaders in the state, said he was 'bullish' on the midterm elections because he believes voters will support Republican arguments about rooting waste, fraud and abuse out of Medicaid. He also thinks voters will back other policies in the legislative package like cutting taxes on tips and overtime pay and raising the child tax credit. 'Democrats are basically staking themselves out on issues that resonate with one-third of the voters, whereas Republicans have staked themselves out on issues that resonate with two-thirds of the voters,' Shumaker said. 'They have put themselves into a box.' Democrats are betting that a narrow focus on the bill's health care provisions will have the most impact, even in states like Iowa, where Democrats are hoping to oust Ernst, contest an open governor's seat and two US House seats. Ernst, who is seeking a third term next year, picked up a Democratic challenger earlier this month after she told a town hall protester 'well, we all are going to die' in response to comments about cuts to Medicaid. Ernst doubled down on the remarks in a video filmed in a cemetery. An Ernst spokesperson pointed to Ernst's full comments, in which she said she wants to leave Medicaid funding for the 'most vulnerable' and 'those that are eligible.' 'While Democrats fearmonger against strengthening the integrity of Medicaid, Senator Ernst is focused on protecting Medicaid for the most vulnerable,' reads a statement from the senator's office. 'She will continue to stand up for Iowa's rural hospitals, clinics, and community health centers that serve our state.' Iowa state Rep. J.D. Scholten announced his campaign soon after Ernst's town hall, becoming the second candidate in the race after Democrat Nathan Sage, who announced in April. Some election forecasters shifted the race slightly – from solid to likely Republican — after he launched his campaign. 'We're seeing people, just everyday people calling Ernst 'Joni Hearse,'' Scholten told CNN. 'You just get that sense, politically, that if we can tap into that … this is where our foot's in the door to a lot of voters who have not been voting Democrat.' It's also motivating Democratic voters in the state. Melinda Magdalene Wings, a 65-year-old retired hospice nurse from Iowa City, Iowa, told CNN she's worried cuts to Medicaid funding would impact the assisted living home where her 86-year-old parents, including her mother who has advanced dementia, reside. In February, she started writing her representatives about the bill. 'As Iowa's elected officials, I expect them to vote for what's best for Iowa — for the people of Iowa — and not for this administration,' she said. 'Money going to millionaires doesn't make any sense.' A handful of Senate Republicans, including Tillis and Collins, have raised concerns about the impact the reconciliation bill could have on their states, particularly a Senate proposal that would limit how much states can raise provider taxes, a key source of revenue. The provider tax provision is among a handful that Senate Republicans are revising after the chamber's parliamentarian ruled they didn't meet the strict budget rules that allow the legislation to pass with a simple 51-vote majority. 'I've been very concerned about the cuts in Medicaid and the impact on my state, but other states as well,' Collins told CNN's Manu Raju on Tuesday. 'I've also been concerned about the health of rural hospitals, nursing homes, health centers and have been working on a provider relief fund. But that doesn't offset the problem with the Medicaid cuts.' Tillis said Tuesday that while the bill's Medicaid cuts are 'directionally right,' Republicans 'have to do it at a pace that states can absorb, or we're gonna have bad outcomes, political and policy.' Tensions within the Senate GOP caucus have also spilled out into the open. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell told colleagues with concerns about the bill during a private GOP conference meeting that 'failure is not an option' and people in their states raising concerns about the bill's Medicaid provisions would 'get over it,' according to a report from Punchbowl News. Democrats quickly latched onto the comments. 'I hope Republicans can 'get over it' when they lose their seats in the midterms,' DNC communications director Rosemary Boeglin said in a statement. A spokesperson for McConnell said the senator was referring to people who are 'abusing' Medicaid and 'should be working,' and the need to 'withstand Democrats' scare tactics' on the issue. 'Senator McConnell was urging his fellow members to highlight that message to our constituents and remind them that we should all be against waste, fraud, and abuse while working to protect our rural hospitals and have safety nets in place for people that need it,' the statement read. Nearly 8 million more people would be uninsured in 2034 because of the Medicaid provisions in a version of the bill passed by the House last month, according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. Most of those cuts come from the legislation's work requirement, which calls for able-bodied adults without dependent children to work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month. A proposal unveiled by the Senate this month would expand that requirement to adults with children over the age of 14, which would likely result in even more people losing coverage. Republicans have argued they are reforming Medicaid to sustain the program for people who need it the most. They've focused their messaging on work requirements, which are popular with voters, and policies that would penalize states for covering undocumented immigrants with their own funds. 'President Trump and Senate Republicans are working to protect Medicaid for Americans who truly need it,' Nick Puglia, a National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson, said in a statement to CNN. 'Voters will reject Democrats' lies, fearmongering, and attempts to use taxpayer benefits to subsidize illegal aliens and their open border policies.' Republicans are also framing a vote against the reconciliation bill, which extends the individual income tax cuts in the 2017 GOP tax policy overhaul that are set to expire at the end of the year, as a vote for tax increases. 'I think in the end, this bill will play out on the Republicans saying, 'We got it done. We passed it, the economy's good. We spared you from having to pay more taxes,'' David McIntosh, the president of Club for Growth, told reporters recently. 'And then pivot to say, 'but if my Democrat opponent gets elected, they want to undo it … vote for us so that we can stop them from raising your taxes.'' A Washington Post-Ipsos poll released June 17, before the Senate released its framework, found overwhelming support for some provisions in the bill. Seventy-two percent of Americans support raising the child tax credit, 71% support extending tax cuts for individuals making less than $100,000 and 65% support eliminating taxes on tips. But, as whole, 42% of Americans oppose the bill, while 23% support it and 34% said they had no opinion. A KFF poll released the same day found that 64% of adults had an unfavorable view of the House's version of the bill. The poll found that 68% of adults – including 51% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 88% of Republicans – support work requirements, but that support for work requirements dropped to 35% when adults heard the argument that 'most people on Medicaid are already working' or unable to work. Democrats have described the work requirements as an intentional bureaucratic hurdle. Health policy experts and Democratic campaigns have also focused on the ripple effects cuts to Medicaid funding could have on the system as a whole, including rural hospitals and nursing home care. 'A lot of Medicaid patients seek care from the same providers or same types of providers,' said Adrianna McIntyre, an assistant professor of health policy and politics at Harvard University. 'So when you're pulling dollars out of the system and away from those providers, it doesn't just hurt the patients who no longer have insurance through Medicaid.' CNN's Manu Raju, Alison Main and Fredreka Schouten contributed to this report.
CNN
2 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Republican plans to overhaul Medicaid are already shaking up the 2026 midterms
Senate Republicans have yet to finalize their version of President Donald Trump's sweeping domestic policy proposal, but GOP lawmakers up for reelection in 2026 are bracing for the political impact of the bill's Medicaid cuts. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is pushing for a provider relief fund. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has warned GOP leaders about how many in his state could lose care. And Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has picked up a crop of Democratic challengers campaigning off her 'Well, we all are going to die' response to a town hall protester. Tens of thousands of people could lose coverage in each of those three senators' states, according to a KFF analysis on the version of the bill passed by the Republican-led House last month. Beleaguered Democrats, meanwhile, hope that laser-focusing on health care will help them chip away at the Republicans' 53-seat Senate majority and take back the House. A key part of Democratic messaging has been to tie the Medicaid cuts, which would largely affect low-income Americans, to tax breaks for the wealthy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the changes would reduce federal Medicaid spending by roughly $800 billion over 10 years, largely by instituting work requirements for certain adults eligible for Medicaid and postponing a Biden administration rule intended to simplify enrolling and renewing coverage. 'It is crazy politics for them to do this,' said Brad Woodhouse, a longtime Democratic operative and executive director of Protect Our Care, a health care advocacy group that launched a $10 million campaign this year to oppose Medicaid cuts. 'Everyone is going to be unhappy with this bill, unless you're a very high net worth individual: a millionaire, a multi-millionaire, a billionaire, or a large corporation.' Many Republicans have argued that the cuts to Medicaid are meant to sustain the program for those who need it most. They're also betting that the rest of the bill will be more popular. Paul Shumaker, a longtime North Carolina GOP strategist who advises Tillis and other Republican leaders in the state, said he was 'bullish' on the midterm elections because he believes voters will support Republican arguments about rooting waste, fraud and abuse out of Medicaid. He also thinks voters will back other policies in the legislative package like cutting taxes on tips and overtime pay and raising the child tax credit. 'Democrats are basically staking themselves out on issues that resonate with one-third of the voters, whereas Republicans have staked themselves out on issues that resonate with two-thirds of the voters,' Shumaker said. 'They have put themselves into a box.' Democrats are betting that a narrow focus on the bill's health care provisions will have the most impact, even in states like Iowa, where Democrats are hoping to oust Ernst, contest an open governor's seat and two US House seats. Ernst, who is seeking a third term next year, picked up a Democratic challenger earlier this month after she told a town hall protester 'well, we all are going to die' in response to comments about cuts to Medicaid. Ernst doubled down on the remarks in a video filmed in a cemetery. An Ernst spokesperson pointed to Ernst's full comments, in which she said she wants to leave Medicaid funding for the 'most vulnerable' and 'those that are eligible.' 'While Democrats fearmonger against strengthening the integrity of Medicaid, Senator Ernst is focused on protecting Medicaid for the most vulnerable,' reads a statement from the senator's office. 'She will continue to stand up for Iowa's rural hospitals, clinics, and community health centers that serve our state.' Iowa state Rep. J.D. Scholten announced his campaign soon after Ernst's town hall, becoming the second candidate in the race after Democrat Nathan Sage, who announced in April. Some election forecasters shifted the race slightly – from solid to likely Republican — after he launched his campaign. 'We're seeing people, just everyday people calling Ernst 'Joni Hearse,'' Scholten told CNN. 'You just get that sense, politically, that if we can tap into that … this is where our foot's in the door to a lot of voters who have not been voting Democrat.' It's also motivating Democratic voters in the state. Melinda Magdalene Wings, a 65-year-old retired hospice nurse from Iowa City, Iowa, told CNN she's worried cuts to Medicaid funding would impact the assisted living home where her 86-year-old parents, including her mother who has advanced dementia, reside. In February, she started writing her representatives about the bill. 'As Iowa's elected officials, I expect them to vote for what's best for Iowa — for the people of Iowa — and not for this administration,' she said. 'Money going to millionaires doesn't make any sense.' A handful of Senate Republicans, including Tillis and Collins, have raised concerns about the impact the reconciliation bill could have on their states, particularly a Senate proposal that would limit how much states can raise provider taxes, a key source of revenue. The provider tax provision is among a handful that Senate Republicans are revising after the chamber's parliamentarian ruled they didn't meet the strict budget rules that allow the legislation to pass with a simple 51-vote majority. 'I've been very concerned about the cuts in Medicaid and the impact on my state, but other states as well,' Collins told CNN's Manu Raju on Tuesday. 'I've also been concerned about the health of rural hospitals, nursing homes, health centers and have been working on a provider relief fund. But that doesn't offset the problem with the Medicaid cuts.' Tillis said Tuesday that while the bill's Medicaid cuts are 'directionally right,' Republicans 'have to do it at a pace that states can absorb, or we're gonna have bad outcomes, political and policy.' Tensions within the Senate GOP caucus have also spilled out into the open. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell told colleagues with concerns about the bill during a private GOP conference meeting that 'failure is not an option' and people in their states raising concerns about the bill's Medicaid provisions would 'get over it,' according to a report from Punchbowl News. Democrats quickly latched onto the comments. 'I hope Republicans can 'get over it' when they lose their seats in the midterms,' DNC communications director Rosemary Boeglin said in a statement. A spokesperson for McConnell said the senator was referring to people who are 'abusing' Medicaid and 'should be working,' and the need to 'withstand Democrats' scare tactics' on the issue. 'Senator McConnell was urging his fellow members to highlight that message to our constituents and remind them that we should all be against waste, fraud, and abuse while working to protect our rural hospitals and have safety nets in place for people that need it,' the statement read. Nearly 8 million more people would be uninsured in 2034 because of the Medicaid provisions in a version of the bill passed by the House last month, according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. Most of those cuts come from the legislation's work requirement, which calls for able-bodied adults without dependent children to work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month. A proposal unveiled by the Senate this month would expand that requirement to adults with children over the age of 14, which would likely result in even more people losing coverage. Republicans have argued they are reforming Medicaid to sustain the program for people who need it the most. They've focused their messaging on work requirements, which are popular with voters, and policies that would penalize states for covering undocumented immigrants with their own funds. 'President Trump and Senate Republicans are working to protect Medicaid for Americans who truly need it,' Nick Puglia, a National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson, said in a statement to CNN. 'Voters will reject Democrats' lies, fearmongering, and attempts to use taxpayer benefits to subsidize illegal aliens and their open border policies.' Republicans are also framing a vote against the reconciliation bill, which extends the individual income tax cuts in the 2017 GOP tax policy overhaul that are set to expire at the end of the year, as a vote for tax increases. 'I think in the end, this bill will play out on the Republicans saying, 'We got it done. We passed it, the economy's good. We spared you from having to pay more taxes,'' David McIntosh, the president of Club for Growth, told reporters recently. 'And then pivot to say, 'but if my Democrat opponent gets elected, they want to undo it … vote for us so that we can stop them from raising your taxes.'' A Washington Post-Ipsos poll released June 17, before the Senate released its framework, found overwhelming support for some provisions in the bill. Seventy-two percent of Americans support raising the child tax credit, 71% support extending tax cuts for individuals making less than $100,000 and 65% support eliminating taxes on tips. But, as whole, 42% of Americans oppose the bill, while 23% support it and 34% said they had no opinion. A KFF poll released the same day found that 64% of adults had an unfavorable view of the House's version of the bill. The poll found that 68% of adults – including 51% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 88% of Republicans – support work requirements, but that support for work requirements dropped to 35% when adults heard the argument that 'most people on Medicaid are already working' or unable to work. Democrats have described the work requirements as an intentional bureaucratic hurdle. Health policy experts and Democratic campaigns have also focused on the ripple effects cuts to Medicaid funding could have on the system as a whole, including rural hospitals and nursing home care. 'A lot of Medicaid patients seek care from the same providers or same types of providers,' said Adrianna McIntyre, an assistant professor of health policy and politics at Harvard University. 'So when you're pulling dollars out of the system and away from those providers, it doesn't just hurt the patients who no longer have insurance through Medicaid.' CNN's Manu Raju, Alison Main and Fredreka Schouten contributed to this report.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Key GOP senator warns Medicaid cuts could spell political disaster for Republicans
Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), one of the most vulnerable Senate Republican incumbents facing re-election in 2026, warned Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) bluntly in a private meeting Tuesday that deep cuts to Medicaid could cost Republicans control of the House and Senate, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Tillis, who has kept relatively quiet about the hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts proposed by the Senate Finance Committee, blasted his leadership's plan to forge ahead during a Republican luncheon on Capitol Hill. 'Thom Tillis got up and he had a chart on what the Senate's provider tax structure will cost different states, including his. His will lose almost $40 billion. He walked through that and said 'this will be devastating to my state,'' said a person familiar with Tillis's blunt exchange with Thune behind closed doors. The proposal to cap the health care provider tax rate is a major cost cutter in President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' but it is also among the most controversial provisions. Several key GOP senators have expressed alarm about the Medicaid cuts in the Senate's version of the legislation. Tillis's chart, which he also showed to colleagues, showed that North Carolina would lose $38.9 billion in federal funding and that more than 600,000 North Carolinians would be at risk for losing Medicaid coverage. 'Tillis said this is going to be like ObamaCare. He said just like ObamaCare led to huge losses for Democrats in 2010 and 2012, he said this could be the same thing for us because hundreds of thousands of people in his state, millions around the nation are going to be kicked off of Medicaid — working people, who are Trump voters,' the source told The Hill. Tillis warned 'it could cost us majorities in both houses' of Congress, the source added. The North Carolina Republican called on the GOP leadership to abandon the Senate Finance Committee's language on capping health care provider taxes, which would dramatically restrict states' ability to draw more federal funding, and return to the Medicaid language passed last month by the House. 'Thune didn't like that very much,' the source added of the GOP leader's reaction. Tillis told The Hill that he has a tendency to be 'blunt,' especially when he thinks something might be going in the wrong direction. 'I'm generally very blunt so I don't think it was any more than normal,' he said of his candid comments to GOP leaders at the meeting. He's worried that Republican colleagues have become so fixated on cutting Medicaid as a way to pay for Trump's agenda that they may be losing sight of the bigger political picture. Tillis said he sees some similarities to the political pitfalls that Democrats suffered in 2010 after zealously pushing the Affordable Care Act into law under former President Obama despite growing political opposition from around the country. 'The Democrats became so obsessed with passing ObamaCare, they kept on moving. They made the promise, 'If you like your health care, you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep it.' Exactly the opposite proved to be true,' Tillis said. Tillis recalled that he defeated former Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) in the 2014 election by highlighting during the campaign that she and other Democrats made promises about ObamaCare that didn't hold up. He's worried that Republicans could wade into trouble by pledging that Trump's megabill won't cut Medicaid benefits if hundreds of thousands of people wind up losing coverage. 'Now we're saying we're going after waste, fraud and abuse but we're not going to affect beneficiaries. And there's going to be 600,000 in North Carolina and some 3 million [people] nationwide' who are going to lose Medicaid coverage, he said. 'It almost reads identically to what was being said in 2009 and 2010,' he said. Tillis said he supports cutting federal spending but cautioned 'I want to cut in a way that states can absorb.' Thune appeared to take the criticism in stride when he held a press conference immediately after the Republican lunch meeting. 'Everybody having fun yet?' Thune quipped to the assembled reporters. 'Join our lunches, it's very stimulating.' Thune insisted the massive bill is still on track to pass the Senate by the end of the week. 'We are making good headway on the reconciliation bill. As you all know, this is the legislation we believe implements the president's agenda. It makes our country safer, stronger and more prosperous,' he said. 'We feel very good about the path that we're on and getting this across the finish line by the end of the week,' he said. Republican senators have become increasingly concerned about the political fallout of cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, even though their leaders have pledged that people won't see their benefits cut. 'We had a meeting last night, I'd say there were a handful of senators who raised the issue of politics, the political consequences of Medicaid, and tried to make certain that people who are marching forward know there's a hazard,' a GOP senator who requested anonymity said. 'Changes in Medicaid lend themselves toward the political ads that we see in today's politics,' the senator warned. The senator said the Senate's language on capping states' use of health care provider taxes would lead to significantly deeper cuts to federal Medicaid funding than the House language. Senate Republicans are talking about setting up a $100 billion health care provider relief fund for rural hospitals, nursing homes and community health centers, but that may not solve their political problems. 'Even if that were to be incorporated, which I very much hope it will be, the Senate cuts are so much deeper than the House that the Medicaid provisions remain a problem for me,' said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who faces a competitive re-election race next year in a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris carried in 2024. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is vowing that Republicans will pay a political price in 2026 if their Medicaid cuts become law. 'The public is overwhelmingly against these Medicaid cuts and anyone who votes for them is going to have real trouble in their states,' he declared. He said the Medicaid cuts would have severe impacts 'in as many Republican states as Democratic states.' He said Democrats have compiled a list of rural hospitals that would close because of federal funding cuts and pointed out that Kentucky — which is represented by Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — could lose more hospitals than any other state. 'We have a list of rural hospitals that would close. Do you know which one has the highest? Thirty-five in Kentucky,' he said. 'It's political disaster for them,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
GOP Rep Unravels on CNN When Pressed on Medicaid: ‘Don't Have Me On the Show!'
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) blew up during an exchange over GOP Medicaid cuts on CNN, barking: 'If you don't want to hear the answer, then don't have me on the show!' Things got heated after host Boris Sanchez brought up Republicans' sweeping bill, which includes proposed health care spending cuts that would leave 8.6 million people uninsured, mostly from cuts to Medicaid, according to an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Forty percent of residents in Malliotakis' congressional district—which encompasses parts of southern Brooklyn and Staten Island—rely on Medicaid, according to CNN. 'Do you have an estimate [of] how many of them would lose eligibility under this plan?' Sanchez asked the congresswoman. Malliotakis dodged the question, pivoting to Medicaid fraud. She said the cuts would mainly affect 'people in the country illegally' and 'people who refuse to adhere to [Medicaid working requirements].' But Sanchez kept pressing: 'Do you have a precise number for your district?' A long pause ensued before Malliotakis responded by claiming that 'nationally' 1.5 million ineligible people are receiving Medicaid. 'If you're not eligible, you should not be receiving benefits. It's as simple as that,' Malliotakis said. 'That makes you a fraudster.' When Sanchez continued by questioning how stricter eligibility rules would impact groups like institutionalized people, Malliotakis bristled. 'It seems to me that you guys just want to try to act like Republicans are trying to kick off people who are eligible for the program. That is not the case,' she said. Sanchez pushed back, saying, 'I wasn't trying to make it seem like you're trying to do anything, I was asking for a ballpark number for your district.' Malliotakis, an ally of President Donald Trump, replied with exasperation, 'Well you don't let me explain.' The congresswoman is, in fact, one of a dozen House Republicans who have sought to limit even steeper cuts to Medicaid that some of their colleagues have pushed for in order to offset the costs of Trump's agenda. While advocating for smaller scale 'reforms' to root out alleged fraud in the system, she signed a letter to House leadership in early May vowing not to back 'any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.' The intra-party feud over Medicaid, food assistance, and tax provisions resulted in hardliners on the GOP-led House Budget Committee blocking the package from advancing Friday.
